Dragonball Forgotten Times
by subdivision
Summary: In a time when the deeds of the Z fighters are barely more than legend, the life of a young man named Xavier is led down an unusual path. (*reviews appreciated* ^_^ )
1. The Routine

Disclaimer (and this goes for the entire fic, including any other sagas I may write): I don't own DBZ or any of it's characters.  Any of those not found in DBZ, but are in this fic are mine.  Thank you, enjoy the fic.)

**DragonBall FT (Forgotten Times) The Black Thorn Saga**

Chapter 1: The Routine   
The blaring alarm clock was silenced by the slamming of a tired fist. The boy stared at the clock for a few seconds before it hit him that he had to get up for school. Cursing the world, he started to get out of bed when a voice was heard through the thin apartment walls:

"Xavier! Get up...NOW!!!"  
Dragging his tired feet across the floor, Xavier walked out into the hall, past his mother's room, and to the bathroom. He would have said good-morning to his mom, but she had already fallen back asleep after yelling to him to wake up.

_Working all that overtime is really taking a toll on mom_, Xavier thought to himself. This thought also took him back to days when things were different...when his father was still alive and his family lived in their comfortable sub-urban home. It seemed so long ago, but it had only been a couple of years. Now, it took everything for them to afford to live in their apartment, just on the edge of the city.

As quickly as he had started reminiscing about the old days, Xavier snapped back to reality and remembered he had to get ready for school. _fucking Monday...fucking school_, Xavier thought as he hurriedly got ready. Xavier looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He was relatively tall, about 6'. He had short, dark brown hair which was normally brushed forward, but was now a complete mess. He was of an average build, neither muscular nor fat. His height made him appear even thinner than he really was. 

After he had gotten dressed, he walked into his sister's room to wake her up. Her room was barely classifiable as such...it was smaller than Xavier's room, but not by much, and, because of its small size, seemed better suited as a convict's cell than a little girl's room. Both of their rooms didn't even seem like they were meant to be used as bedrooms...maybe large storage closets or something.

"Hey, Lydia, wake up! Time to get ready for school!" Almost instantly after Xavier had spoke, the nine year old Lydia woke up, bright-eyed and eager to start the day. "Good-morning, bro!" she said. Xavier merely grunted a response; her "morning-person" attitude and the fact that, since she was only in third grade, Lydia didn't start class until an hour later than his school did, always got under his skin.

After waking up his sister, Xavier moved to his next task...waking up his mother. He hated doing this; she worked so hard to put food on the table and it seemed like all she did was work. He wanted to let her sleep, but knew that if he did, she would probably get fired. He walked into her room, it was the biggest of the three bedrooms, being the only one that seemed like it was meant to be a bedroom, but still, it was very small.

Xavier walked over to his mother's bedside and shook her gently. His mother responded to waking up with even less enthusiasm than Xavier did. Eventually, however, she did wake up. Xavier's mother knew that she had to get Lydia to school and get herself to work.

Upon making sure that his mother was fully awake and wouldn't fall back asleep again, Xavier glanced at the clock on the small table next to his mother's bed. _OH SHIT!!!_ Xavier thought, I'm gonna miss the bus!! And with that, Xavier said goodbye to his mother, and ran out of her room. Hurrying through the one large room of the apartment, which served as kitchen, dining room, and living room, Xavier grabbed his backpack and sped out of the apartment. He ran down the hall to the elevators and stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the sign taped on the elevator doors which read:

"Out of order; please use the stairs.

Thank you

-Mr. Moggins"

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Xavier punched the sign as hard as he could, splitting two of his knuckles, and then ran to the stairs, not noticing the dent left in the metal doors. Jumping down the stairs four and five at a time, he thought: _I had better get used to this...it'll be weeks before that lazy bastard gets off his ass and gets that elevator fixed._

When he had finally made it down the twenty-three floors of stairs, Xavier stepped out onto the street and ran full-sprint to the bus stop. He got to the stop just as the bus was pulling away. Cursing his luck and the public transportation system, Xavier found himself running again. If he wanted to catch his bus, he had to make it to the next stop, which was at the corner of the street, two blocks away, before the bus left there. He didn't think he would make it, but just as the bus was about to leave, the light at that intersection turned red. Xavier got to the idling bus and knocked on the door. The driver shot him an annoyed look and opened the doors. Xavier thanked the man as he hurriedly look for his bus pass. He checked his wallet, but it wasn't there. He checked his pockets, nothing. By this time, the driver was really getting annoyed, he had a schedule to stick to, and he didn't need some kid wasting his time. Xavier finally reached into his backpack, found his pass, showed it to the driver, and moved to the back of the bus where his friend, Jane was seated with a smirk on her face.

"Overslept again?" she asked.

Collapsing into the seat next to her, Xavier responded "No, the damn elevator wasn't  
working."

Jane merely chuckled a bit; she knew how Xavier hated mornings, but she couldn't help letting out the slight laugh at his bad luck. Seeing Jane laugh at his expense didn't aggravate Xavier, as she thought it would have. Talking to her was the first good thing he had to look forward to each day and he just enjoyed being in the presence of his best friend.

Just at that moment, when Xavier was starting to think the day might not be as bad as he thought it would be, he heard a voice say "Sure, a likely excuse, you lazy son of a bitch."

Turning to his left and looking across the isle, Xavier saw the owner of that obnoxious voice. It was Mark. Xavier couldn't stand the sight of him, much less his voice, but Mark and Jane got along, so Xavier put up with him.

Jane knew what Xavier was thinking and quickly tried to change the subject. Jane quickly asked Xavier: "What did you do to your hand?"

Looking at his bloody knuckles for the first time with a puzzled look, Xavier muttered "I honestly don't know...it must've happened when I punched the elevator doors."

Jane didn't respond, but reached into her backpack and pulled out a tissue, which she gave to Xavier so he could clean off the small amount of blood that hadn't already dried.


	2. Something Different

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**

Chapter 2: Something Different

The rest of the bus ride was passed in idle conversation between the two friends. Xavier did his best to ignore Mark's occasional comments. After a trip of about forty-five minutes, the three teenagers got off the bus. Xavier said goodbye to Jane and started walking to his school with Mark a few feet away from him. Xavier and Jane attended different schools, Jane's being a five minute walk down the street. Both were private, single-sex high schools, two of the few in the area. Xavier's parents had insisted that he go there. The money hadn't been a problem when his father was alive, but since he had died, Xavier had to work after school cleaning classrooms to help pay for it. He didn't want to do it and would have rather just gone to a public school, but his mom really wanted him to go there, so, when it was offered by the principal, he took the opportunity to help pay for his education.

Walking through the doors to the school, Xavier thought to himself _It's only October and already I can't stand this place. I can't wait until I'm out of this hell-hole of a school._ Xavier went to his homeroom and then, obeying the bells like one of Pavlov's dogs, went from class to class, zoning out through most of them. The morning just dragged on until he got to his local history class. _Why did I ever sign up for this class?_ Xavier thought. _It's an easy A, but it seems more like Urban Legends 101 than a history class. "Great Saiya-man," "Golden haired warriors," next thing you know, Mrs. Barlow up there is going to tell me they saved the world. All she's doing is telling us old stories that we are supposed to believe happened over 200 years ago. Oh, well, I have lunch next, and at least I can get some sleep in this class._

The rest of Xavier's day passed in the usual manner, Xavier's teachers talked on and on, while Xavier simply ignored what was going on in class. All went well until Xavier's last class of the day. It was gym class. While he didn't hate the class, Xavier wasn't fond of it, either. He wasn't very fond of organized sports, most likely because, when compared to some of his classmates, he was no good at any of them. While he knew this was the case, Xavier always told himself: _I've got better things to do with my time than chase around some stupid ball. If I didn't need this class to graduate, I wouldn't even be here._

Rather than play basketball like everyone else in the class was doing, Xavier decided to go and lift weights in the weight-room. _If they're all playing basketball, I won't have to torture myself by listening to their loud-mouthed bragging,_ Xavier thought. 

He had placed fifty pounds on a bar and was struggling through a set of bench-presses. Half-way through the set, Xavier's classmate, Chris, walked over and started talking to him. Chris had short, light brown hair, which he styled to make stand straight up, tan skin, a lean build as a result of years of rowing and was about six inches shorter than Xavier. Chris had wallet as fat as a hog, and a personality to match.

_Oh great, he's going to start using up perfectly good oxygen that I could have used._ Xavier thought when Chris had stopped right next to the bench that Xavier was working out at. Xavier did not think of Chris in the same way that most others did. Most people looked past Chris' arrogant nature, and saw his overflowing wallet. Xavier, on the other hand, didn't give a damn about how much money Chris had and just wished he wouldn't talk to him. 

"Hey, buddy." Chris initiated the conversation. Xavier almost dropped the weights on his chest when he heard the word "buddy").

"What do you want, Chris?" Xavier replied.

"I noticed you hadn't bought a ticket for the homecoming dance, and I thought I'd remind you that I'm the only one selling them."

Xavier merely grunted a reply, half out of resentment that Chris was in charge of selling the tickets and he would have to pay the little snob for his ticket, and half out of his sheer resentment of Chris. _Great, a sales pitch. Just what I want to hear coming out of his mouth._ He thought to himself.

Seeing an opportunity to press a sale, Chris continued: "You are going, right?

Xavier didn't respond, but rather, focused his eyes on the ceiling and silently counted his reps.

"Don't tell me you don't have a date," Chris joked, still trying to close the sale.

Xavier continued to ignore Chris. He did have a date...Jane. The dance was a joint event of both their schools and neither of them had found a date, so they decided to go together, just for the hell of it.

Chris was starting to get annoyed by Xavier's ignoring him, so he got up to leave and try to sell some tickets to those playing hyperball in the gym down the hall. When he was about ten feet away from the door, Chris turned and said in a sarcastic tone, "Sorry to bother you, man, I just figured you'd be taking that tramp you're always hanging out with and would need a ticket. Don't get mad at me for doing my job."

Up until that point, Xavier was able to bear Chris' annoying presence. He had done so for three years. Today, however, Chris had set something off inside Xavier. He knew that Chris was talking about Jane and he couldn't stand it when people insulted any of his few friends. Chris had insulted Xavier before, and Xavier normally didn't care about the words that spewed from Chris' mouth. But when Chris insulted Xavier's best friend like that, something snapped in Xavier. He placed the bar that he was holding above him in its stand, right above his head and sat up on the  
bench.

"What did you just say?" he angrily asked Chris.

A smirk formed on Chris' face. He enjoyed this sort of thing, since he knew that, although he was shorter than Xavier, he was still the stronger of the two. "What? You mean what I said about that hot little skank that insists on hanging out with you?"

At that instant, a fire was lit in Xavier's eyes. A rage swelled in him that he had never felt before. Xavier had stood up, and now reached to his right and placed one hand on the bar that he was lifting, just moments ago, clenching the steel in his white-knuckled hand.

"Awww, what's the matter?" Chris said in a condescending manner, "Did what I say get you all upset?"

Xavier didn't respond. He simply lifted to bar with one hand and stated in a cold, emotionless voice: "Chris, you little sack of shit, I've had to put up with listening to you for years." Xavier brought the bar up and began to throw it, as if it were nothing more than a baseball. "Now, I'm gonna shut you up, you son of a..."

"STOP!!!!!"

Xavier heard the voice just before he let go of the bar. While he couldn't stop the momentum, he redirected the bar to the padded floor, where it landed with a relatively quiet thud.

Xavier looked around for the owner of the unfamiliar voice, as Chris just stood in shock at what he had just seen, thinking _That scrawny little twerp was just struggling to bench-press that bar, and then he goes and picks it up with one hand as if it were nothing!!_

Meanwhile, Xavier still did not know who had told him to stop; there was no one else in the room. "Who's there?" Xavier asked in a relatively loud voice.

"What are you talking about?" the frightened Chris asked him. "There's no one in here except you and me, and you know it."

Xavier was still annoyed at Chris, but asked him, "If there's no one else in here, than who just yelled to me to stop from hurling that bar through your chest like a javelin?"

"What the hell's wrong with you? No one yelled 'stop.' What the fuck is going on here?" Chris frantically stated.

With that, Chris ran out the door, not sure of what had just happened. While running down the hall, he thought to himself: _Holy shit! Was that real, or did I just hallucinate all that??....I gotta stop smoking up during lunch._

Meanwhile, Xavier was left with his own thoughts. _What the fuck just happened? Who was that that told me to stop? Why didn't Chris hear it? Why did I listen? Am I going insane?_ He reached down with one hand to pick up the bar again, and was surprised to find that, once again, he could barely lift it, even when using two hands. _And how the hell was I able to pick this thing up so easily?_


	3. AfterShock

(author's note to Digifan: I can't answer that.  Wouldn't want to ruin any future plot twists, now, would I?)

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 3: After-Shock 

The final bell rang to end both Xavier's gym class and the school day. Xavier walked into the locker room to get changed. He was still trying to figure out what had happened just a few minutes prior. He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even take notice of anyone around him. After silently getting changed, Xavier slowly walked down the halls to his locker, with his eyes trained on the ground. As he walked along the crowded hallway, towards his locker, he was repeatedly bumped and pushed out of the way by others, hurrying along for some reason or another. _Ten minutes ago, those weights weighed nothing to me. I could've killed that son of a bitch with the slightest effort. Now, I'm getting pushed out of the way by underclassmen._ Xavier thought. _And what about that voice? I've never heard it before in my life, I'm sure of that, but there was no one else around. Am I going crazy? Do I need to be put on some sort of  
medication?_

These were the thoughts that filled Xavier head as he got his books from his locker and made his way to the principal's office where he clocked in and started work. The hour of cleaning classrooms passed Xavier by as he continued to wander through his thoughts. He still couldn't make sense of what had happened when he clocked out and left school to catch the bus home. As  
he exited through the front doors, he noticed Jane sitting sideways on one of the bottom steps so that her legs were stretched out along the length of the stair, waiting for him to finish his janitorial work, just like she did every day. What was different today, however, was that she had company...it was Chris.

_That goddamn son of a bitch! What the hell does he think he's doing? An hour ago, he was insulting her, and now he's standing there, chatting away with her like they're best of friends!_ Xavier thought after stopping dead in his tracks, just outside the door. He then descended the stairs and, stopping on the stair above the one that Jane was sitting on, extended his hand towards Jane and asked "Ready to go?"

She took his hand and he helped her to her feet. After she brushed the dirt off the back of her pants, the two teens began walking towards the bus stop, leaving Chris alone at the base of the stairs. The moment that he saw Xavier coming down the stairs, Chris seemed to have lost his voice. He still wasn't sure what had happened in the weight room and thus, didn't mention it to anyone. He knew no one would believe that Xavier could have done what he did, and Chris wasn't about to make himself look like a fool, claiming to have seen Xavier pick up those weights like he did.

When they were out of earshot, Jane, who was now tying her straight, shoulder-length black hair back in a ponytail, turned to Xavier and simply remarked: "I really hate that guy." 

"Really? Then what were the two of you talking about?" Xavier asked.

"You," Jane replied, which caused Xavier to raise an eyebrow.

"What about me?" he asked in a lighthearted voice that was in stark contrast to his mental state. "I'm not much of a topic of conversation." Nothing major, he just asked me a few questions like: How long have I known you? and if you played any sports or went to a gym outside of school...come to think of it, that was pretty weird of him to just start asking questions about you."

Xavier made no response, which prompted Jane to ask her long-time friend: "So, you gonna tell what happened to you today?" What makes you think something happened?" He asked.

"Well, first, Chris is asking questions about your personal life, and now, you're quieter than normal. I know you too well to think that nothing's wrong." she replied.

"Trust me, nothings wrong," he lied while feigning a smile.

She returned the smile, but before she could respond, their bus pulled up and Xavier motioned for her to go first. Once they were seated, Xavier quickly turned the conversation to Jane's day. _I hate to lie to her like this, but I don't know what happened today, and I sure as hell don't know how to explain it to her. _he thought while he listened to Jane tell him about her day. Somehow, Xavier managed to keep changing the topic of discussion throughout the entire ride home. When he stepped off the bus and they parted ways, each heading towards their own street, Xavier realized that, for the first time since he had met Jane, he was glad to have left her presence. _What the fuck am I thinking? I've never been happy to leave her. O well, I'll just have to add that to my list of things to think about tonight._

Upon entering his apartment complex, Xavier was reminded about the defective elevator. He then slowly began ascending the staircase, his mind still racing with different thoughts, only now he cursed the landlord every few steps. He reached his floor and walked down the hall towards his apartment. When he got there, he pulled out his key and moved to unlock the door. He wasn't thinking, however, and missed the keyhole. In his distracted mental state, he dropped the key.

_This just isn't my day._ He thought, as he bent down to pick up the key. When he stood up, he happened to glance down the hall and, for a brief moment, his gaze was frozen in that of two beautiful green eyes that disappeared as fast as they met Xavier's, leaving behind a fleeting trail of red hair as the unknown girl disappeared into an apartment.

_Woah! Who was that?_ Xavier thought, until he remembered, _She must've just moved in...Now I remember, mom mentioned that new neighbors were moving in two doors down._

His mind moving back to the task at hand of opening the door, Xavier unlocked it and entered the apartment. He noticed the light on the answering machine was flashing. He knew who the message was from and didn't want to listen to it, but he pressed the 'play' button anyway and listened.... "Hi, sweetie, it's mom." This much Xavier had already guessed, and he had a good idea of why she had called. "Don't worry about fixing anything for me or your sister for dinner, I'll be working late again and your sister is upstairs at your aunt Mary's...she's spending the entire evening there with your cousin Amanda, so you don't have to worry about her. Make yourself something to eat and make sure you get your homework done...Love you." Beeeeeeeeeeep.

The noise startled Xavier. He had barely listened to the message...all he needed to know was that he didn't have to watch his sister that night. Walking into the part of the room that served as a kitchen, Xavier found a pack of macaroni and cheese and threw it in the microwave. He still had dozens of questions that he couldn't answer, but he knew he wouldn't figure any of them out that night, so he decided that he would simply let his mind wander for the rest of the day in the wonderful world that is television and macaroni and cheese.


	4. Return to the Known

(Thanks for the review, Super Saiyajin no Ouji….always nice to know there's at least a handful of people reading this ^_^) Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga 

Chapter 4: Return to the Known

The week just dragged on for Xavier. Everything seemed like it was back to the way it was before Monday. He had reasoned that the only way that he was able to throw those weights was because of some sort of adrenaline rush. There was no other way he could explain it to himself. Trying to convince himself of this reasoning worked until he remembered about the strange voice that told him to stop. _It must have just been my conscience kicking in at the last second_, he reasoned with himself. But the more he thought about it, Xavier realized that _There was no way that that voice could have been my conscience; it was like someone was in the room talking to me, ordering me to stop. I would never have listened to my conscience at a time like that. I must be losing it or something._

While Xavier wrestled with his thoughts, the rest of the week passed him by. Everything followed the same routine: wake up, go to school, work, meet Jane, go home, eat, sleep. The one thing that bothered Xavier, however, was that twice, on Wednesday and Thursday, when he came out of school after working, he thought he saw Chris walking away from the main entrance where Jane waited, going to the student parking lot. Xavier couldn't be sure of what he saw, though; there were plenty of guys at his school that looked like Chris when their backs were turned to you: same overpriced clothes, same stupid haircut, same rich-boy strut. _I'm just letting my imagination get out of hand. Xavier told himself._

It was Friday. Xavier was just getting home from school and was about to open the door to his family's apartment when he heard a door slam shut followed by the sound of soft footsteps coming down the hall. He glanced over to his left where the noise was coming from and was stunned. It was her, the girl with the beautiful green eyes, she was walking right towards him and once again, those were locked with his. Xavier couldn't move, even if he wanted to. He was mesmerized by the two emeralds. He was brought out of his trance when he heard an equally beautiful voice.

"Hi!" said the voice. The sound of it brought Xavier back to reality and quickly sent his mind racing again. _Wow, she's beautiful. I wonder what she wants with someone like me. Aww shit, I'm probably a mess after work!_

After a second delay, Xavier responded, "Hey."

"I'm glad I caught you. You go to Augustine High, right?" The girl asked. Her voice had entranced Xavier almost as much as her eyes had. She had a very soft, quiet voice. 

Stumbling over his words, Xavier replied, "uh...Yeah"

"Do you take the bus to school?" She asked. Xavier was surprised that, although it seemed like she should be barely audible, he could understand every syllable perfectly.

"Yeah" He replied. He wanted to say something more, but his voice kept stopping in his throat.

"Well, I just moved into the area and I start classes at St. Mary's on Monday and, since it's just down the street from where you go, I was wondering if you could show me what busses to take on Monday."

"Um...sure." Xavier answered.

"Great!" She touched his arm, just below the shoulder, "thanks a lot!"

Before Xavier could respond, the girl spun around and walked back to her apartment. Xavier simply watched as the trail of red hair disappeared into the apartment once again.


	5. Some Sort of Bad Joke

Thanks for the review, Super_Saiyajin no Ouji.  And to anyone else who's reading this fic (if there _is_ anyone else o_O) Be sure to let me know what you think.

**Dragonball FT, Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 5: Some Sort of Bad Joke  
Xavier walked into his apartment, still amazed at what had just happened. _I can't believe a girl that beautiful would even lower herself to talk to me, never mind ask me for help of any kind._ He thought, but then the pessimism kicked in, _That's it...I'm the only one from either school who lives in this building. She probably figures I'm the only one who can show her what busses to take. Oh well, so much for that moment of optimism._  
Having walked across the room while he was thinking, Xavier stopped by the phone to hear the message on the answering machine. It was his mom. She had left the same message that she had on Monday, except this time, Lydia was sleeping over at their aunt's apartment. _Well,_ Xavier thought, _at least I don't have to watch Lydia tonight. It's a good thing that mom and Aunt Mary get along so well, or Lydia wouldn't be up there visiting Amanda half as much._ After he had deleted a message, Xavier let out a yawn. _I'm exhausted...I better go crash for a while._ He thought. With that, he walked into his room, dropped his backpack in the corner, and dropped himself face first into his bed. A few seconds later, Xavier was in a deep sleep.  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
*RIIIIIING, RIIIIIIIIING*  
Xavier's eyes opened slowly.  
*RIIIIIIIIING, RIIIIIIIIIIING*  
_Who the hell's calling this late at night?_ Xavier thought, until he looked at the clock. _Wha? It's only seven at night? Oh yeah...I fell asleep after school._ Xavier mused at his own mistake.  
*RIIIIIING, RIIIIIIIING*  
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Xavier said to the unknown caller, as he walked into the living room, towards the phone.  
*RIIIIIIIIING* "Hi, you know what to do, *beeeeeep*." the answering machine said to  
the caller before Xavier could answer.  
"Hey, Xavier," a male's voice started. "It's Matt. Just seeing if you want to go shoot some pool. Call me back if you..."  
"Hey, man," Xavier had picked up the phone, cutting off his friend's message.  
"Hey...I didn't think you were there. You wanna go shoot a few games of pool?"  
"Sure, I need to get out. When are you going?" Xavier responded.  
"How's now?" Matt asked.  
"Sounds good...meet you at the corner."  
"K, bye."  
"Bye." Xavier finished the conversation and hung up the phone. He walked into the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. He tried to fix the mess of hair on his head as best he could, but eventually gave up. Back in his room, Xavier put on his sneakers and black baseball cap. He grabbed his old, worn, brown leather trench coat off the back of his door. It was one of the few things he had left that his father had given him. It was a birthday gift, the last of Xavier's birthday that his father was alive for, and it almost always reminded Xavier of his father. A small smile quickly appeared and disappeared on Xavier's face. He liked remembering about his father, and the coat served as one more reminder.  
Xavier walked out into the kitchen, quickly scribbled a note for his mother. Even though he knew he would be home before his mother, he always left a note, just in case she did come home earlier. He checked his wallet to make sure he had enough money to pay for the games of pool he would be playing shortly. While his job at school helped pay for his tuition, his principal also paid him fifty dollars a week, since he knew the financial situation of Xavier's family. Once he was assured of his financial capabilities, Xavier grabbed his key and walked out the door. He headed towards the stairs when he heard an unusually loud door slamming shut. Turning around quickly, he saw no one else in the hallway. Shaking his head at his childish behavior, Xavier continued on towards the stairs. Once out of the building, he started towards the corner of his street. A few minutes later, Xavier found himself at the corner of his street. He glanced up at the street sign and smirked as he read it: "Satan Ave." read the top sign (Xavier's street). Below that: "Gokuu Pkwy."(The street perpendicular to his). _Some people must really believe those stories they tell us in that Local History class._ He thought as he shook his head in pity for the gullible. This intersection used to be one of the most high-class areas in town and was named after two of the cities greatest "warriors," but had, in the past century, fallen into disrepair.

As he finished his thought, Xavier heard a voice from a few feet away on Gokuu Ave.: "Hey, man. It's about time you showed up."  
"Shut up, Matt," Xavier responded, "I know you just got here."  
"Can't fool you, huh?" Matt replied as he stepped from the shadow of the building he was in. He was tall, a few inches taller than Xavier, even though Xavier was one year Matt's senior. He was also slightly heavier than Xavier, a result of both added muscle and fat. He wore tattered blue jean shorts that came down to just below his knees, and a black hoody. His blue hair was spiked, as it always was.  
"Shall we?" Xavier asked, a he motioned down Satan Ave., in the direction of the pool hall.  
"Let's." replied Matt.  
They set out in silence. There was no need to talk, as they knew each other so well. They were friends from as far back as either of them could remember. Both of their families used to live in the same street in the suburbs. Xavier's moved after his father died. Matt's family had moved when his father got a better job and found a nice apartment within walking distance of it.   
They had walked the two blocks to 8-ball's Pool Hall and were now just across the street from it. Although the traffic signal was red, they began to cross the street, as they saw no cars approaching from either direction. When they were about halfway across the street, they heard the screeching of tires, but thought nothing of it, as people were always doing that in their neighborhood. Out of the corner of his eye, Xavier noticed something, a very large, very fast something. From what he could see, it was a dark color, shone in the streetlights, and heading right for them, driving on the wrong side of the road. By this time, Matt had noticed the car too, but was caught like a deer in the headlights. Acting completely on instinct, Xavier grabbed his long-time friend by the back of the shirt and hurled both himself and Matt forward to the side of the road. As the dark blur went past them, Xavier thought he could hear the word "Damnit!" from someone inside it, but he wasn't certain. After quickly getting up, Xavier ran back into the street and focused his eyes to try and read the license plate. All he could make out was the first two letters: BT.   
Xavier walked back over to Matt, who by this time, was sitting up with an astonished look on his face, and asked, "Are you ok?"  
"Yeah, just a couple of scrapes, but I'll be fine. What about you?"  
"Maybe a bruise or two, but nothing major." Xavier replied. "Let's get into the pool hall...I don't want to be here if they come around here again."  
"No arguments here," Matt agreed.  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
Matt and Xavier walked into the pool hall. A cigarette smoke haze hung over the room, and Xavier coughed as the smoke hit his lungs. The lamps that hung over the tables were the only lighting in the entire place and, combined with the smoke, provided just enough light to be able to see to the other side of the room clearly. The pool hall was only half-filled, it being relatively early, but the sounds of billiard balls cracking together filled the room, nonetheless.   
Both were shaken by the events that had just happened, but neither wanted to show it. Xavier, however, was even deeper in thought than Matt. _It happened again! How was I able to almost throw Matt out of the way? And did that person try to hit us, or did I imagine that "Damnit"?_  
They got their usual table off in the corner of the room. Here, they didn't have to worry about any passers-by knocking into their cue's while they were lining up a shot. Matt racked the balls and Xavier broke. He was running the table until he happened to look across the room. There, at the table against the other wall, he saw something he thought he would never see: Jane was there with another guy. Normally, Xavier would have cared less, after all, he wasn't in control of her. But tonight was different. Tonight, Jane was sitting on the lap of Chris, with her tongue down his throat. As the reality of what he saw set in, Xavier, who had the eight ball perfectly lined up and his shot called, scratched on a shot that any beginner would be able to make, and lost the game that he had dominated from the start. Seeing his friend's strange behavior, Matt asked, "Dude, are you ok?"  
"Yeah," Xavier replied, "Just lost my train of thought for a second. Oh well, I'll rack, you break."  
Matt began the next game and it was his turn to run the table. During this time, however, Xavier, who had sat down on one of the stool next to the table, kept glancing up across the room. _What the fuck is going on!?! Just the other day, she tells me she hates him, and now she's trying to lick his molars! I can't believe she would lie to me like this! What can she possibly see in..._   
"Earth to Xavier, it's your shot." Matt joked at Xavier, who had become engrossed in his thoughts.   
"Oh, right," Xavier replied as he stood up to take his shot.  
"Your sure you're alright, man?" Matt asked as Xavier was lining up his shot.  
"Yeah, just got a lot on my mind tonight, that's all." Xavier responded, as he made his shot.  
"Ok, if you say so." Matt finished the discussion.  
The two friends continued to play pool for the next two hours before calling it quits. Xavier did his best to ignore what was happening across the room, but he still couldn't concentrate entirely on the game at and. At the end, they had both won four games. They  
walked back to the counter and paid for the time. On the walk back home, neither of them said a word, and both kept glancing from side to side whenever they crossed a street. Parting ways at the same intersection, they both walked to their respective apartment. The entire way, Xavier was still consumed in his thoughts. _What's been going on lately? I feel like someone is having fun fucking with my mind. After everything that's happened this past week, I actually wish I could go back to the way things were before Monday._  
These thoughts, and others like them, ran through Xavier's mind as he ascended the stairs to his apartment. Xavier got to his apartment, half expecting, half-hoping to see the red-haired girl again, and was almost disappointed when he didn't. He walked into his apartment, crumpled up and threw out the note he had left for his mother, who hadn't returned yet, or else the note would have been gone. He then walked into his room and hung up his coat on the back of his door. Xavier then sat down on the side of his bed and kicked his shoes off. Although he had slept just a few hours earlier, Xavier once again found himself completely exhausted. He flicked off the light and, for the second time that night, fell face first into his pillow.


	6. Questions Unanswered

Thanks for the review and the advertising, Super_Saiyajin no Ouji  ^_^.  Here's the next chapter.  Hope you enjoy.

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 6: Questions Unanswered  
Saturday came and with it more questions for Xavier. He and Jane almost always went to a movie or something on Saturdays, but tonight, Xavier heard nothing from her. She always called him, since the time they left was always dependent on when she could leave. Even when they didn't go out, Jane would certainly call, just to talk for a little while. Tonight was different. No one called, except for his mother, who was once again working late. Amanda's mother had taken both Amanda and Lydia, Xavier's sister, somewhere. Rather than take the initiative to find something to do, Xavier crashed on the couch in front of the TV for most of the night. Finally, around ten, Xavier got bored of mindlessly flipping through channels. He got up off the couch, grabbed his coat from his room, and walked out the door. He walked down the hall and began climbing the stairs (the elevator was still out of service). He didn't stop until he had reached the roof of the building, fifty stories above the street. Xavier always liked to come up here when he needed to think. When he got there, Xavier walked to the edge, pulling his coat tighter around him in the wind, and rested his elbows on the metal safety bar. He was deep in thought, trying to make sense of everything that had happened to him in the past week.  
_Something really fucked up is happening lately and I have no clue what it is._  
"All your questions will be answered soon enough"  
Xavier turned around quickly. "Who's there?" He demanded, but no one answered him. Xavier slowly turned back around and was again standing with his elbows on the railing. While he was gazing over the city skyline, he had a revelation.  
_That voice! I've heard it before! That's the same voice that stopped me from killing Chris when I had the chance!_  
Xavier remained there for almost an hour after he heard the voice. He tried to piece everything together, even though he knew that he would not be able to understand anything any better than when he had walked up there.   
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sunday came and went, and then it was Monday. Xavier woke up and went through his normal morning routine. He walked out of the apartment and started towards the stairs. He hadn't taken three steps when he remembered about the red-haired girl. He walked back towards her apartment and when he got there, knocked on the door. At the exact moment that Xavier stopped knocking. He came to a startling realization.  
_I don't even know her first name! What am I going to do if someone else answers!?!_  
Xavier held his breath as he heard someone unlocking the chain lock on the door. The doorknob turned and the door opened just enough so that a face could be seen. Xavier breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the emerald eyes and red hair and was about to say 'hi,' but was beaten to it.  
"Hi, I'll be out in a minute," said the girl and quickly shut the door again.  
Xavier stood there frozen for a moment, mouth still half open from his attempt at a greeting, when he snapped back to reality and continued to wait. Two minutes later, Xavier watched as the door opened, giving him his first good look at this unnamed girl. She was roughly 5' 6" tall and was of an average build. She was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a dark blue fleece pullover which covered a green shirt which could barely be seen around her neck, under the fleece. She pulled the door closed behind her and stated "OK, I'm ready."  
The two of them began walking down the hall at a relatively leisurely pace. When they got to the stairs, Xavier looked at his watch. _Oh shit!! We're going to miss the bus if we keep going at this rate._ He thought.

"I'm sorry to have to rush you like this, but if we don't hurry, we'll miss the bus." Xavier told her apologetically.  
"That's OK." the girl responded as they stood at the top of the staircase. A sly smirk appeared on her face, and an instant later, she started hurrying down the stairs. Xavier stood there confused, but for only a second. Then he heard the now familiar voice from the first landing below their floor as it called up to him, "Race you!" As soon as she had said it, the red-haired girl was hurrying down the stairs once again. Xavier immediately took off down the stairs after her. They were both laughing all the way down the stairs and, when they reached the street, they both burst through the doors of the building at the same time.  
_This is the first time I've ever had fun walking to the bus._ Xavier thought as they walked towards the bus. By running down the stairs, they had given themselves enough time to walk to the bus stop, albeit at a relatively accelerated pace. When they neared the stop, Xavier noticed Jane waiting there.  
_SHIT!! I forgot about Jane! Damn, damn, damn. After what I saw Friday, I don't really want to talk to her now!_ Xavier thought. He could do nothing to avoid the eventual meeting. He thought about going o a different stop, but deemed that worthless, however, since they would have to ride the same bus, eventually. _Hell, she probably didn't even see me on Friday. I just won't bring it up. That way, I can worry about this at a later time that's not so early in the morning._ Xavier thought as he and the red-haired girl arrived at the stop.

"Hi, Xavier!" Jane said, in an unusually cheerful mood.  
"Hey, Jane." He replied, not so enthusiastically. A short pause then ensued.  
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Jane asked.  
Once again, Xavier was brought to the realization that he didn't know what the red-haired girl's name was.  
"Oh, right," Xavier started. "Jane, this is..."  
"Emily." the red-haired girl cut in, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet you," she continued as she and Jane shook hands. As the two girls finished their greetings, the bus arrived and the three of them entered. They took their seats in the back, and Jane started talking to Xavier:  
"I'm sorry I didn't call you Friday or Saturday, but I really wasn't feeling good. I don't know what it was, but I could barely talk. I think I had a really bad frog in my throat." Jane apologized.  
"That's OK," Xavier replied. "I wasn't really in any mood to go out this weekend, anyway." While he said this, Xavier thought to himself, _I guess it would be kind of hard to talk on the phone with Chris' tongue down her throat all weekend, you goddamn liar._  
The rest of the bus ride was spent mostly in silence, between Xavier and Jane. Jane spent most of the trip talking to Mark and, every once-in-a-while, turned to Xavier and tried to start a conversation, but Xavier wasn't in any mood to talk to her, and he didn't want to start asking Emily about her past with Jane right there. When they got off their bus near their schools, Xavier said his goodbye's and began walking towards his school. He had just turned his back to the two girls, when he heard Emily.  
"Hey, Xavier, wait a sec." She called to him.  
"Yeah?" He asked as he turned around. No sooner was he facing Emily, when she, standing on her toes, kissed him softly of the cheek.  
"What was that for?" he asked.  
"For being such a nice guy." She replied. She then turned and started walking down the street towards her school. She had taken a few steps, stopped, and then walked back to where Xavier was still standing and asked him "So, do you think you can show me what busses to take home? I know I'd have to change busses at a different stop, but I don't know which one."  
"Sure, as long as you don't mind waiting around here for an hour 'til I get out of work." He replied.  
"No problem." Emily said. "Where should I meet you?"  
"Umm...how about on the front stairs over there?" He said while pointing at the front stairs of his school.  
"Great, see you then." Emily responded as she turned and walked away.  
Xavier was left, once again, wondering to himself: _What the fuck just happened?_


	7. Finally

Well, I'm sorry for the delay…damn technical difficulties (i.e. lost zip disc _ )  but, here's chapter 7.  The next shouldn't take as long for me to put up.

Enjoy

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 7: Finally  
For the rest of the day, Xavier's body was in school, but his head was in the clouds. No matter how hard he tried paying attention in any of his classes, his thoughts always returned to what he looked forward to after school: seeing Emily. Every class was the same: he would take out a notebook, hold a pen in his hand like he was about to write something, but simply stare off into space, dreaming about those two green eyes. At lunch, Xavier barely ate anything and his head still wasn't out of the clouds when he was cleaning classrooms after school. Only after he was done cleaning had Xavier realized that he had cleaned some rooms twice, while he had forgotten about others. _Oh well, I'll just have to remember to clean those first, tomorrow._ He thought as he got his coat and backpack out of his locker and made his way to the front door where Xavier was hoping he would find Emily waiting for him.  
He walked through the front door and, to his surprise and delight, saw a girl sitting on one of the lower steps, back to the door, with that now all-too-familiar red hair. Xavier smiled to himself and walked down the stairs. When he got to the bottom, he turned and his eyes met those two emeralds that he had thought about all day.  
"Hey," He greeted her.  
"Hey, yourself," Emily replied.  
"You ready to go?" He asked. Immediately following this, Xavier thought to himself, _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course she's ready to go. Why else would she be sitting here waiting?_  
"Yup." Emily replied.  
Xavier, shaking off his mental self-insults, extended his right hand in order to help Emily to her feet. She reached up with her left hand and was helped to her feet. What Xavier didn't expect was that Emily didn't let go of his hand. Instead, after she had gotten up, she kept hold of Xavier's hand, intertwining her fingers with his. Xavier, although shocked, was completely elated. He did his best to hide his thoughts, but couldn't stop from briefly turning a deep shade of red. Luckily for Xavier, Emily didn't notice; and if she did, she didn't let on that she did. They walked the two minutes it took to get to the bus stop in silence. Xavier was too dumbstruck to even begin to think of anything to say, and Emily seemed content just the way things were. They got to the bus stop just as a bus was pulling up, and they got on. As they sat down, a thought popped into Xavier's head:  
_I didn't even see Jane at all since I left school. Normally she's sitting on the steps when I leave, but today she was nowhere in sight. Oh, well, she probably had to leave right away or something._  
After they had sat down in the pair of seats, Xavier next to the window and Emily next to the aisle, Emily opened up the discussion with a question, "So, how long have you lived in the apartments?"   
"About two years," He replied. "So, what brings you to that wonderful (this said laden with sarcasm) apartment complex?"  
"Well, I live with my aunt and uncle (When she said this, Xavier noticed sorrow in her voice and decided he wouldn't continue with this topic any longer than Emily would). We used to live in Springfield, but when my uncle got laid off, we moved here because he thought there were more job opportunities." She told him.  
After she told him this, Emily became very quiet. Xavier was sorry for ever having brought up the subject. He put his arm around her shoulder and, trying to comfort her, said:  
"Look, I'm sorry about bringing that up..."  
"That's OK," she interjected. "But, I'd rather not talk about it any more right now. I'll fill you in on the details later, OK?"  
"Yeah, sure." Xavier replied.  
"Thanks." Emily responded. With that, she moved closer to Xavier in their seat and put her head on his shoulder.   
_This is really weird._ Xavier thought to himself as they sat together. _I barely know her, and yet, I'm completely comfortable in her presence, and it's almost like she feels the same way about me. This has never happened to me; I'm always shy around people I just meet, but for some reason, I don't around her. There's just something about her... I can't put my finger on it. Either this is my lucky day, or fate is setting me up for a fall. Oh well, I might as well enjoy the moment._

The rest of the trip home was spent in much the same way. Xavier didn't want to bring up a topic that would make Emily sad and besides, it wasn't every day that he had a beautiful girl on his arm. They got off the bus and walked to the apartment building. Upon arriving there, they walked up the stairs (the elevator still hadn't been fixed). Xavier walked Emily to her door and was just about to turn to leave when Emily stopped him. He turned to her and was met with a quick kiss on the lips. After that, Emily shyly smiled at Xavier and disappeared into her apartment.  
Xavier was dumbstruck. First, there were the events of that morning, and now this. _This is turning out to be the best day of my life._ He thought to himself as he slowly walked back to his apartment. He walked into the apartment. No one was there, as usual. As soon as he had hung up his coat, the phone rang.  
"Hello?" answered Xavier.  
"Hi, Xavier." a familiar, female voice replied.  
"Oh, hey Jane," Xavier said a little less enthusiastically.  
"I hope you didn't worry about where I was after school." she said, half apologetically.  
"No, I just figured you got a ride home right after school." Xavier answered.  
"Yeah, something like that," said Jane. "So, who was that little slut who was with you this morning?"  
This caught Xavier off guard. He had never known Jane to be so insulting to someone she didn't even know. "What?" was the only reply that Xavier could muster.  
"You heard me," she replied. "I saw that kiss she gave you this morning."  
"And that makes her a slut?" Xavier asked.  
"Yeah, I bet you barely even know her." Jane told him.  
"Really? And just how long have you known Chris?" Xavier asked in a slightly annoyed tone.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.  
"Don't play dumb with me." Xavier told her.  
"I really don't know what you mean." She responded.  
"Then let me refresh your memory. Friday night, at 8-ball's. I was there shooting a few games with Matt, and you know what I saw? I saw you there sitting on Chris' lap, with your tongue down his throat." Xavier said. He was now really annoyed.  
"Who I go out with is my own business!" Jane stated.  
"Fair enough, but why lie about it? You told me you were sick all weekend when, obviously, you weren't." He asked.  
"Because I knew you would overreact like you are right now." She told him emphatically.  
"OK, so, let me get this straight." Xavier started. "My opinion, and popular knowledge of Chris' demeaning behavior to those he dates, means nothing to you; and yet, I'm supposed to listen to you when you claim that the first girl to ever take any real notice in me is a slut?"  
"That's not true." Jane replied. "Chris is a really nice guy. Aside from that, he was a perfect gentleman all night."  
"Yeah, and I bet that'll last real long...that is until he wants to get into your pants." Xavier said, almost shouting.  
"I already told you, he's not like that." Jane retorted.  
"Sure, whatever. Just don't come crying to me when he uses you and then throws you to the side like he's done with every other girl." Xavier said. And with that, he hung up the phone.  
Xavier didn't move for a minute. He didn't have the energy. Just the thought of Chris using his best friend made his blood boil. At the same time, he was helpless to do anything. She was her own person, and all he could do was offer advice.   
Overcoming his temporary paralysis, Xavier walked back into his room and grabbed his coat. He put it on as he walked to the door. He exited the apartment and made his way to the stairs and ascended them, not stopping until he reached the roof. When he got there, he walked to the edge of the roof, leaned on the safety bar with his elbows and began to think about what was going on in his life. He had not been there for more than five minutes when he heard a voice from behind him.  
"You seek answers to questions you don't even understand." The voice stated.  
Xavier froze. _That voice!! I've heard it before! Can it be?!_ Xavier thought.  
The voice continued after the brief pause, "You seek answers...answers that I might have."  
At this, Xavier slowly turned around and finally saw the body that accompanied the voice. It belonged to a tall man. His white robe and dark maroon vest flapped in the wind. He held in his left hand a walking stick taller than the owner. Most striking of all, however, was the man's green skin and two antennae on his forehead that was as bald as the rest of his head.


	8. Answers

OK, first off, to anyone who actually read this story (I know, you're few and far between), you have my apologies for being both lazy and busy. Between school and my lack of wanting to type/post what I have of this fic, it's been far too long since I've updated. If you care, prepare for a lot of reading. I'm posting _everything_ I have, rather than trying to draw it out over a couple weeks. Happy reading.

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 8: Answers  
  
Xavier stood motionless, his voice had left him just like his ability to move. All he could do was stare at the strange, humanoid figure, eyes wide open and mouth agape. Upon seeing Xavier's reaction, the man half-smiled. He had expected some sort of reaction to his appearance. After a brief moment of absolute silence, the green figure took one step towards Xavier, closing the ten foot gap between them by a couple feet. This action snapped Xavier out of his stupor. His right arm shot up, parallel to the ground, with his palm facing the figure, almost trying to command the figure to stop. After doing this, and seeing the figure stop his approach, Xavier barely managed to ask, "W-W-Who...w-w-what...are you?"  
  
"You have no reason to be afraid of me." the figure said in a calm, reassuring voice. "To answer your immediate questions, my name is Dende, guardian of the Earth. I am a Namekian, from the planet Namek. But, my history is not what is important here, Xavier." As he was saying this, Dende took two more steps towards Xavier. When he finished, he extended his hand towards Xavier. Xavier, who was still trying to reclaim his motor skills, managed to stammer,  
"H-H-how do you know my name?!"  
  
"I know more about you than your name." Dende replied. "I know this has all got to be a little overwhelming, but if you come with me, I'll explain everything."  
  
"Let's see..." Xavier started, having just regained total control over his voice. "Lately, I've almost killed someone, almost been killed, been hearing voices, a beautiful girl takes an interest in me, got into a huge fight with my best friend, and now I'm standing here talking to a Nameky, or whatever it is you call yourself..." here, Xavier let out a sigh. "Oh, what the hell, I might as well take the trip down the rabbit hole." After he said this, Xavier reached out and shook Dende's hand. The instant he did so, both Xavier and Dende vanished from the roof top.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
Xavier opened his eyes. The moment he shook Dende's hand, he felt a slight pain throughout his entire body that made him close them. Now, the pain was gone. Xavier looked around, and what he saw, or rather what he didn't see, surprised him. Rather than the neighboring buildings, all Xavier could see was the clear blue sky. He looked down at his feet and saw that he was no longer standing on the black rooftop of his apartment building, but rather on a grey marble floor. To his left, Xavier saw a row of well kept trees, and on his right, he saw a large white building with a golden domed roof.  
  
Xavier gasped. Once again, he could barely talk, but he managed to ask, to no one in particular, "Where the f*ck am I?"  
  
"You are at my lookout, high above the Earth. It is from here that I watch over the events taking place across the entire world." Xavier heard Dende reply.

"How the hell did we get here? We were just on the roof?" Xavier asked, now starting to get a little frightened.  
  
"Simple, I used the instantaneous movement. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to learn that technique." Dende told him.  
  
"Suuure," Xavier replied. "One more question: Why did you bring me here?"  
  
"Because I need your help, and here, I can tell you why. I felt this would help you to believe what I am about to tell you." Said Dende.  
  
"Wha? Why do you need _my_ help...I mean, there are billions of other people in the world. Why me?" asked Xavier.  
  
"I will get to that in due time." replied Dende. "First, I'm sure you've heard of the Tenkaichi Budoukai."  
  
"Tenkawha?" Xavier interjected.  
  
"Tenkaichi Budoukai. It's also referred to as the World Martial Arts Tournament." Dende told him.  
  
"O...k..." Xavier said, unsure of what it was that Dende was talking about.  
  
"Oh my, how silly of me," said Dende. "I forgot...the last Tenkaichi Budoukai was almost 200 years ago. Perhaps you've heard about it in your history class? The last tournament was held not too far away from your own city."  
  
"I really don't pay much attention in Local History. In fact, I never really believed much of what they teach in that class...especially that stuff about the "Great Sayia Man."  
  
When he heard this, Dende fell over in shock, but quickly returned to his feet. He then continued, "You should start paying more attention from now on. Most of what they tell you is probably true...unless they try to tell you that Mr. Satan saved the Earth...but that's a story for another day. Right now, there are more important matters. I'll be blunt, I'd like you to participate in the tournament, which will be held in eight months."  
  
"You've got to be shitting me." Xavier replied. "I have absolutely no fighting experience, no desire to fight in some sort of tournament, and besides, like I said, there are probably billions of other people that are better suited for something like this."  
  
"I know you have no fighting experience. That's why I came to you now. This way, you will have time to train." Dende told him. "Also, you _are_ the person best suited for this. While you may not be very strong now, with the proper training, you can become very powerful. I sensed that power within you the day you almost killed Chris."  
  
Xavier raised an eyebrow when he heard this. He had temporarily forgotten about that day. His mind trailed back to that afternoon. _He's right...for a moment that day, I felt incredibly strong,_ Xavier thought to himself.  
  
"That may all be true, but why do you want me to enter this tournament so badly? And what makes you think that I'll be so willing to go along with your plan?" Xavier asked Dende.  
  
"Why should you enter?" Dende began. "That is twofold. The first, and most obvious reason is the prize money, $50 million to be exact."  
  
Xavier's eyes shot wide open when he heard the figure. _With that money, my family could live comfortably for years. Xavier thought. Mom could work a regular nine to five job, if she even worked at all. And I would be able to afford any college I could get into._  
  
"Ok, you've got my attention, but what's this other reason that you've got?" Xavier asked.  
  
"I know much of the way you think Xavier." Dende started. "I know your father is dead and that you think about him often. There is one thing, however, that you do not know, which will change the way you think about your father's death forever."  
  
Xavier was now hanging on to every word that Dende said. _What could this green guy know about dad's death that I wasn't already told. It was a car accident, simple as that. The brakes failed, and there was nothing that could've been done to prevent it._ Xavier thought.  
  
"So, you think your father's death was an accident, hmm?" Dende said, as if he were reading Xavier's thoughts. "The truth is," here, Dende's voice took on a very solemn tone. "Your father was murdered."


	9. Truths Revealed

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 9: Truths Revealed  
  
Xavier stared at Dende with a blank, but confused, look on his face. He didn't quite know how to react to what he had just been told and his mind began to run in circles. _What is he talking about? Who would want to kill dad? And how does this guy know about it?_  
  
He then asked Dende, "What are you talking about?" Xavier's voice was laden with shocked skepticism.  
  
Dende let out a sigh. He abruptly stopped talking, allowing Xavier a chance to get his thoughts together. "Your father was an attorney, am I correct?" Dende asked. He knew the answer to his own question, but decided to ask this to increase Xavier's trust in what Dende was about to tell him.  
  
Xavier, still rather dumbfounded, merely nodded that Dende was correct.  
  
"You see, Xavier, your father was an excellent attorney. To my knowledge, he won most of his cases." Dende started.  
  
"Yeah, he did." Xavier replied. "He always said he wouldn't take a case if he didn't think he could win. He felt that it would be a waste of his time and his client's money if he thought he would fail."  
  
Dende sighed again. "I'm afraid it was this method of taking on clients that brought about his death." Dende said. "While those clients he took were, more often than not, delighted to have him as a lawyer, he made more than a few enemies of those that he refused."  
  
"So, what you're saying is that someone got pissed off at my dad for not taking their case, so they killed him?" Xavier asked.  
  
"There is more to it than that, Xavier." Dende continued. "You see, there was one case where your father refused to take the defendant. The defendant, a wealthy business man, was doomed from the start - between the witnesses and the evidence, he didn't have a prayer. A few days later, the plaintiff in the exact same case sought your father's legal services. Knowing he had a sure winner, your father accepted. As a result of the case, the defendant lost a rather large sum of money, even for him, which put him on the edge of financial ruin."  
  
"What is this guy's name?" Xavier interrupted. "I'll find him and rip his fucking throat  
out."  
  
"Calm yourself, Xavier." Dende instructed. "That businessman is of little concern of  
yours. He has recently become completely financially ruined and leads a miserable life." At this, a smirk appeared on Xavier's face. "Besides, that man was not the one that had your father killed. He belonged to a group known as The Black Thorn. They are very secretive, and only a few outside their numbers know about them. As secretive as they are, they are just as protective of their members. And when they cannot protect their own, they get revenge for any damages that were caused. This, I am sorry to say, meant the death of your father."  
  
Xavier was taken aback, but not fully convinced. "OK, you have yourself a convincing story, but it all seems like something out of a movie or something. I mean, I know you're the guardian of earth, or whatever it is you called yourself, but why should I believe you? How did you come to know this?" Xavier asked.  
  
"How do I know this?" Dende repeated. "You answered your own question: I'm the Guardian of Earth. I have my ways of finding out information. What proof do I have? Tell me, how well do you remember your father's wake and funeral?"  
  
"Those days were engraved in my mind." Xavier replied solemnly.  
  
"I see," Dende said. "I want you to think back to the day of the wake. Do you remember there being a single black rose among the other flower arrangements? That is their calling card. They leave it at the wake of anyone they kill, sort of like a final insult. I personally think they only do it because they are a very vain group of people and that is their way of gloating." He asked.

Xavier stood silently staring into the clear blue sky, just over Dende's shoulder. Although he was gazing into the sky, that was not what he was seeing. He was in a crowded room. It was lit by a few table lamps that gave off an eerie glow. No light was offered by the two windows the made up the majority of one of the walls. It was dark out and the curtains had been drawn closed. Xavier was standing in one spot. He looked down at himself and saw that he was dressed like most of the other men in the room, completely in black; suit, tie, and shoes, aside from a neatly starched white, button down, shirt.  
  
To his right, his mother was standing talking to an elderly woman that Xavier had never seen before. His mother had a tissue in her left hand which she used to wipe her eyes every few minutes. She was wearing a black dress and looked very tired.  
  
To his left, Xavier saw a row of chairs up against the wall. Seated in most of these were more people whom Xavier had never seen before. Many of them were silently praying. Others were talking about someone, but never used that person's name. Xavier could hear bits of their conversation through the low conversations that others were having. Whoever they were talking about, they referred to only as 'he' and always in the past tense. At the end of the row of chairs, Xavier saw his sister. She stared silently at the floor, hands folded neatly in her lap. Her face, almost hidden behind her curly brown hair, was host to a sorrowful, confused expression. From what Xavier could see, her eyes had a glassy look to them, as if she was on the verge of tears. It was like she knew why she was there, but at the same time, didn't fully grasp what was going on.  
  
Looking straight ahead, Xavier realized that he was facing the back of the room. He saw, between the mass of people in front of him, Jane and Matt were sitting in the far right corner, quietly talking between themselves. Occasionally, one of them would look at Xavier with a look of concern on their face, almost as if they were checking to make sure he was ok.   
  
Throughout the crowd, Xavier could pick out familiar faces - relatives that he knew, friends of the family, and his own handful of friends from school. No one was smiling and many appeared about to cry. Xavier was unsure of exactly what was going on. His mind was in a daze. Someone who appeared to be in their thirties walked up to Xavier, put his hand on Xavier's shoulder reassuringly, and continued to walk past him. Xavier stood motionless for a moment longer. When he did move, he tuned himself around and gasped at the sight he witnessed. The polished wood of the casket reflected a faint light. The top of it was opened and in it, Xavier saw his father. His father was wearing a dark blue suit and appeared to be sleeping. His hands were folded neatly over his stomach. His legs were hidden under the bottom half of the coffin lid. Kneeling in front of the casket, apparently in prayer, was a man with white hair. He was attired like most of the men in the room, all black. What was different about this man was that, in his folded hands, he held a black, long-stem rose. The man silently rose to his feet and set the rose on the lower half of the coffin lid. He then walked across the room and out the door, all the while keeping his back to Xavier.  
  
Xavier snapped back to reality when he realized the truth to Dende's words. Dende had been silent since Xavier had begun staring off into space and was quietly waiting for the teen to return to his senses. Xavier, who by this time had remembered where he was, looked at Dende and said, "OK, I believe you."  
  
Dende smiled, He needed Xavier's help and was glad that Xavier was willing to.  
  
"One more question, though, before I agree to fight." Xavier said.  
  
Dende's smile quickly disappeared. "And what might that be?" He asked.  
  
"Exactly how are the Tenkawachi Boodaky.." Xavier started before Dende interrupted. "Tenkaichi Budoukai."  
  
"Right," Xavier resumed. "How exactly are the tournament and the Black Thorn related?"  
  
"Well," Dende started. "They are the ones sponsoring it, through different members. The prize money and any other expense is coming out of their own pockets."  
  
"Why the hell would they be willing to do that, if this tournament hasn't been held in over 200 years?" Xavier asked.

"I've already told you about how the Black Thorn is a very arrogant group." Dende began. "They are also very powerful. Their influence runs deep, all across the globe. Many powerful world leaders are members. The Black Thorn has been around for centuries, but they are only now putting their most vainglorious plan into action. You see, the leaders of the group have become tired of hiding from the public eye. They want the world to know of their existence, but they want their announcement, which will take place at the beginning of the tournament, to be an intimidation. That is why they set up the tournament. The Black Thorn's two greatest warriors will be entered into the tournament as a show of their physical power. The entire tournament is just one big ego trip on their part, but if they do gain the popularity of the general public - you know the old saying, "everybody loves a winner." - I fear that they will possess the ability to bring great corruption across the world. They will have greater freedom to do as they wish, since their actions will not have to be shrouded in secret."   
  
Xavier thought for a moment about what Dende had said, and then asked. "So, let me get this straight: This whole tournament is just a ploy by some group of egotistical assholes to prove to the world that they possess some sort of power? And, if I have the power you say I do, I have a chance to win a heap of cash?"  
  
"You are correct." Dende replied, starting to get worried that Xavier was thinking about not competing.  
  
"Alright, I'm in." Xavier said with a smirk on his face.  
  
"Glad to hear it," Dende said with a huge smile on his old face. "We can start your training as soon as you're ready."  
  
"OK, but just remember, I've got school and work...I'll train as much as I can, probably after school and on weekends, but I can't do it all the time." Xavier told him, half apologetically.  
  
"I understand. You have a life to live." Dende replied. "And I assume you will want to keep this a secret, correct?"  
  
Xavier hadn't thought about this. There would be no way for him to explain all this to his  
mother. "Yeah, you're right." At this, Xavier chuckled dejectedly. "I guess, for once, it's a good thing that my mom has to work so much."  
  
Dende was silent for a moment, not sure what to say. Then Xavier spoke again after looking at his watch. "Ummm...I think I better be getting home. I've barely eaten all day and I've got to make dinner."  
  
"Alright, but before you go..." Dende walked over to Xavier and placed his hand on Xavier's head. Suddenly, a white light surrounded Xavier. Just as Xavier thought that his muscles were about to tear away from his bones, the light faded and Xavier asked, "What did you just do?"  
  
"I've unlocked some of you power. I would not have done this, but I thought it was necessary for you body to begin to get accustomed to an increase in your power. You should now be stronger, but I warn you to take care and not to break anything...or anyone." Dende told him.  
  
"Awesome," Xavier replied while stretching his arms.  
  
"Now, it is time for you to go home." With that, Dende extended his hand towards Xavier, as he had done earlier. Xavier closed his eyes as he shook Dende's hand. When he opened them a second later, he was in his apartment, alone. He then heard Dende's voice.   
  
"I will contact you again soon."  
  
With that, Xavier glanced at the clock again. _Six o'clock...I gotta get dinner started._ He thought.


	10. Testing, 123, Testing

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 10: Testing, 1-2-3, Testing  
  
Dende stood at the edge of the lookout, peering down over the Earth. From his left, a dark figure approached him.  
  
"How did everything go?" The figure asked.  
  
"Well, Popo, he agreed to fight. His training will begin as soon as he's ready." Dende responded.  
  
"Were your suspicions correct?" Popo asked.  
  
"I don't know. When I unlocked a fraction of his power, I felt something...I can't put my finger on it, but I'm certain we found the person we needed." Dende said, with an optimistic smile.  
  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
*BEEEEP, BEEEEP, BEEEEP, BEEEEP*  
  
Xavier opened his left eye. He would have opened both, but the right side of his face was buried in his pillow. _#%$@, another morning._ Xavier thought to himself.  
  
*BEEEEP, BEEEEP, BEEEEP, CRACK*  
  
Xavier's silencing of the alarm clock woke him up more than the alarm clock itself did. He sat up on the edge of his bed and examined the small, plastic clock. Across the top of it was a long crack, put there just moments before by Xavier's hand.  
  
_Weird...that's never happened before._ Xavier thought, his mind still clouded by the remnants of sleep.  
  
He walked to the bathroom to get ready for school. Once there, he was frozen in his tracks when he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Xavier rubbed his eyes repeatedly to be sure he wasn't dreaming. When he was sure he wasn't, he examined his features more closely. His shoulders, usually slouched, were broader, his chest and arms were slightly more muscular than normal, and his abs were flawless. Until now, Xavier had forgotten about the day before. "Holy shit," Xavier said in a low voice, to no one in particular. "I guess this is what Dende said about 'unlocking some of my power.' I think I'm gonna like this."  
  
After the shock of seeing his reflection, Xavier resumed his normal morning routine. As he was just about to get his backpack so he could leave, he heard a knock at the door. He opened the door and was slightly surprised, but very happy, to have his gaze briefly locked in that of the two beautiful emeralds that he had recently come to know.   
  
"Good morning," Emily said with a smile. "I thought we'd walk to the bus together again."  
  
"Sounds good," Xavier said, returning the smile. "I was just about to walk out the door, myself. Be right back."  
  
With that, Xavier closed the door and half-ran, half-stumbled to his room, tripping over furniture and just about anything else that was in his path. He got to his room and flung the door open, threw his coat on and grabbed his backpack off the floor, and returned to the door, in the same stumbling manner. When he got to the door, he turned, shouted "Goodbye!" to either his mother or sister, if either of them were paying attention, and walked out the door.  
  
Emily was standing a few feet away from the door, waiting for Xavier to appear. After he walked out the door, Xavier and Emily proceeded down the hall towards the stairs. Unlike the day before, today they had time to walk down the twenty-three flights of stairs. When they got to the street, they continued walking to the bus stop. Arriving there, they were greeted by Jane's back.  
  
"Hey, Jane." Xavier said, trying to be civil. She was, after all, one of his best friends.  
  
"Hmph," was all Jane returned.  
  
Seeing her obvious disgust at his mere presence, Xavier decided to push the matter further, since he still being annoyed at what Jane had said about Emily the day before. Turning to Emily, Xavier asked, "Is it me, or did it just get a little colder out?" Emily, having seen Jane's reaction to their presence, smiled at the comment. Jane folded her arms and kept her back to Xavier and Emily.  
  
Seeing this, Xavier continued to annoy Jane. He put his hands in his pockets, drew his coat tight around himself, and said "I wish I had brought a pair of gloves this morning."  
  
After hearing this, Jane let out a frustrated sigh, let her arms drop to her sides, spun around to face Xavier, and said, "You know, you can be a real ass sometimes!"  
  
A look of innocence appeared on Xavier's face as he said, "Me?? An ass?? Even if that is true, at least I know not to insult people I don't know anything about."  
  
Jane's eyes narrowed at the insult that was obvious only to her and Xavier. "You know what, Xavier?" she started. "You can find yourself another date for the dance on Friday. I'd rather go with a gentleman."  
  
After everything that had been happening, Xavier had forgotten all about the dance. He thought about what Jane said for a second, shrugged his shoulders, and turned to Emily and said, "Well, seeing as I'm suddenly available on Friday, would you like to go to the dance with me?"

"I'd love to," Emily said with a smile.  
  
At this, Jane turned her back to Xavier once again. She was hoping he'd be upset, and instead, he seemed happy to be going with Emily. In reality, although he was thrilled at the idea of going to the dance with Emily, Xavier was very upset about what had transpired between Jane and himself in the past few days. As he stood there with a smile on his face, Xavier was thinking, _Why does she have to be such a bitch about this? I know I'm not helping matters any, but she shouldn't of insulted Emily like that._ A smile then crept onto Xavier's face. _For his sake, I hope Chris doesn't try anything today._  
  
A few minutes later, the bus arrived. The three got on and walked to the back where they always sat. Jane immediately sat next to Mark while Xavier and Emily sat a few seats away. During the bus ride, Jane and Mark talked for a while and Xavier and Emily were content to stare out the window. When they got to their stop, the four teens went to leave the bus, Jane and Mark first, being closer to the door. Emily was next to step off the bus, followed by Xavier. After Emily had stepped off, the doors began to close. Xavier pushed them open, as anyone would do, but was surprised to find that he had pushed on the doors with too much force, causing them to bounce back at him, striking Xavier in the face, causing him to stumble off the bus holding his nose. When Emily realized what had happened, she hurried to his side and asked, "Oh my God!! Are you okay?!"  
  
"Ah doon no." Xavier replied, still holding his nose.   
  
"Here, let me see." Emily said as she removed Xavier hands from his face. When she saw his face, Emily stated in an astonished voice, "How lucky can you be? There's not even a mark anywhere!"  
  
Xavier was caught off guard by this and quickly turned to look at his reflection in the windows of the bus, which was now pulling away. From what he saw, there was no blood, which he expected to be gushing from his nose. Seeing this, he turned to Emily and said with a smile while scratching the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess you're right. This must be my lucky day or something."  
  
After that, Xavier and Emily said their goodbye's, which ended with a quick kiss. They both began walking to their respective school. As he was walking, Xavier thought to himself, _Wow, I'm really liking this whole 'hidden power' thing. I'm just glad Emily was the only one who saw what happened. If Jane or Mark hadn't walked away, I'd never hear the end of it._  
  
For the most part, the rest of Xavier's day went without event. The only difference he noticed was that running up the stairs between classes was a lot easier, even with a backpack full of books. Every class was went by like any other day, aside from the fact that Xavier actually paid attention in Local History. Everything was going smoothly and, as Xavier was walking into the locker room to get changed for gym class, he thought to himself, _Alright! One more class to go and I haven't done anything like what happened when I got off the bus earlier._  
  
As he was getting changed, Xavier's friend Ryan, who was almost a foot shorter than Xavier, of a stocky build, and had black hair that extended half-way down his ears, walked over to him and asked, "Hey, Xavier. Up for a game of dodgeball?"  
  
This happened every class. Ryan would ask if Xavier wanted to join in whatever game everyone was playing, and Xavier would always decline and head to the weight room. Today, however, a smirk appeared on Xavier's face when he heard what everyone was playing. "Sure, I'm in." Xavier replied. Dodgeball was the one of the few sports that Xavier enjoyed playing in gym class. To him, it wasn't much of a sport to begin with: two teams on either side of the gym, you either throw the ball at your opponents or dodge the ones they throw at you. Not much running involved, and besides, Xavier was a relatively decent at the dodging part.  
  
Xavier and Ryan walked into the gym, where most of their class had already gathered. Once everyone was there, they stood in a group as the two captains, Chris and another student, Tim, picked teams. Xavier stood silently as the two captains made their decisions. When there were four left to choose from, Tim, who was six inches taller than Xavier and had curly, dark brown hair, picked Xavier. When he heard this, Xavier cracked a small smile. He really didn't want to be on Chris' team.

Once everyone was picked, eleven players on each team, the two teams began to move to the opposite sides of the gym. As Xavier was walking to his teams' side, Chris walked right into him, hitting Xavier's right shoulder with his, expecting Xavier to be shoved out of the way. Xavier, however, didn't budge. He merely stared coldly into Chris' eyes. At this moment, Chris said in a low voice, so that only Xavier could hear, "Jane told me what you said about me." The left side of Chris' mouth curled up into a menacing smirk. "I'm gonna make you regret you ever opened your mouth."  
  
With that, Chris jogged away from Xavier who simply kept on walking, now sporting a smile of his own. With the teams on their appropriate sides, the game began. Xavier stood still for a moment, watching what those around him did. There were six balls and each team started off with three. As soon as the game began, all six balls were airborne. None came anywhere near Xavier, who watched as one unsuspecting person on each team was hit and eliminated and the other four balls missed their targets. When Xavier looked across the room again, he noticed that Chris had a ball in his hand and was aiming it right at Xavier. Xavier stood still as the ball flew across the room, aimed directly at his face. At the last possible second, Xavier ducked his head and the ball flew harmlessly above him. Xavier stood up again and found enjoyment in the look of combined shock and anger on Chris' face.  
  
Xavier grabbed the ball that Chris had just thrown at him (after missing Xavier, it had bounced off the wall behind him and rolled towards Xavier). Looking across the room he saw Chris who seemed to be waiting for Xavier to throw it back. Xavier drew back his arm, and was about to throw it at Chris, who was getting ready to catch the ball, thus eliminating Xavier, when, at the last second, Xavier changed his mind and threw the ball at a classmate a few feet away from Chris. Xavier hit the student, who wasn't expecting it, square in the chest, eliminating him. The game continued on for a few minutes until there were two people left on either team. On Xavier's, it was down to himself and Ryan. On the opposing team, It was Chris and another classmate. Ryan went to throw a ball at one of the opponents, but as soon as it left his hand, he was hit in the shoulder by a ball thrown by Chris. Xavier took the opportunity and hit his classmate on the other team, who was preoccupied with dodging the ball that Ryan had thrown at him. Now, with only Chris and Xavier left, everyone on the sideline began getting ready for the next game. They all knew Chris would win this in a few seconds.   
  
Chris, himself, had a sly smile on his face. _If I aim this right, I'll knock that little bitch out of the game and have him sitting on the side for the rest of the class._ Chris picked up a ball and threw it as hard as he could at Xavier, who was just standing up after picking up a ball himself. Xavier didn't have a chance to react. As he stood up, he unknowingly put himself directly in the ball's path. It hit him square in the face, knocking his head backwards as the ball bounced off his face and flew straight up into the air. Chris smirked as he saw that he had won and most likely given Xavier a bloody nose. Xavier didn't move at all, however. A second later, the sound of the ball falling into Xavier's outstretched hand echoed throughout the gym. Xavier tilted his head forward again to see all his classmates staring at him with their jaws dropped. Not only did Xavier pull off an amazing catch to win the game, but he also didn't even have a mark on his face after the incredible hit he had just received. Xavier looked at his classmates and feigned a laugh while scratching the back of his head. "Lucky catch, huh?" He asked to no one in particular. None of his classmates responded. In an effort to break them from their stupor, Xavier lightly tossed the ball in his hand to Tim and asked "Well, we gonna start another game or not?"  
  
"Yeah," Tim said as he awoke from his stupor and caught the ball. "C'mon guys, let's play." He said to the rest of the group, snapping them out of their daze.  
  
_Aww, man. That was a close on. I gotta watch myself from now on._ Xavier thought to himself as he got ready for the next game. For the rest of the class, he tried to remain as inconspicuous as he could, picking his shots like he would any other game of dodgeball. As the bell rang, it seemed to Xavier that everyone had forgotten about what had happened earlier in the class, thanks to a great juggling catch that Tim made in the last game. Xavier thanked whatever it was that was watching out for him as he quickly got changed and headed to work.


	11. The Training Begins

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 11: The Training Begins

  
Xavier went to work as he would any other day, making sure to clean those rooms he had forgotten about the day before when his head was in the clouds. After an hour of cleaning, Xavier got his coat and backpack and headed out the door. As he stepped out the door, he was greeted by a biting wind that reminded him that winter loomed around the corner. Xavier looked up into the sky and saw that it had become very cloudy, as opposed to the crystal clear skies of that morning. This brought a smile to Xavier's face. It wasn't that he hated warm sunny days, he just preferred gloomy winter ones. He descended the stairs, still half looking up at the clouds, when he heard a female voice from the bottom of the stairs, "So, what's so interesting up there?" it asked.  
  
Xavier's attention snapped back to earth when he heard the question. He looked ahead of him and five stairs below him, leaning on the railing, stood Emily with a smile on her face. Xavier's smile broadened when he saw her and replied, "Nothing really. Just looking at the clouds."  
  
Emily chuckled at this and shook her head. As Xavier got to the step the Emily was standing on, she turned an walked alongside him. After they had walked a few steps, Xavier said, "I didn't expect to see you waiting here."  
  
"Why wouldn't I?" she asked as she purposely bumped into him. Xavier didn't have a reply. Instead he let his arm wrap around Emily's waist. They continued walking for a few more paces when an mischievous smirk made its way onto Xavier's face. A second later, he had both arms wrapped around Emily's waist and effortlessly picked her up into the air (surprising himself as much as Emily due to the ease with which she was off the ground), spun around once, and set her back down. Once she was back on her own feet, Emily asked Xavier, between laughing, "What was that for?"  
  
Xavier merely shrugged his shoulders before he and Emily burst out laughing again as they continued walking to the bus.  
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Xavier entered his apartment after walking Emily to hers. He walked to the phone and listened to the familiar message. _OK...mom's working, as usual, Lydia is gone 'til nine...hmm...I wonder how I'm supposed to get in touch with Dende. He said we'd start training as soon as I was ready, so I suppose there's no time like the present. Damn, I wish I knew how to do that telepathy thing that Dende knows. Oh, well. If he's the 'guardian of earth,' I guess he'll know or something._ Xavier thought as he walked away from the phone and into his room. He dropped his backpack on the floor and was about to hang up his coat when he heard a knocking sound. He walked to the front door and opened it, but there was no one there. The knocking sounds began again. This time, Xavier was sure it wasn't coming from the front door, but from the direction of his room. He walked back there and listened again. The knocking was coming from his closet. Xavier slowly walked to the closet. When he got there, he heard the knocking again. He slowly reached for the doorknob, preparing himself for whatever might be behind the door, and flung it open. Xavier peered inside and what he saw almost made him die laughing. Dende was standing in the small space of a closet with his arms stuck at his sides. One of Xavier's neckties was hanging off of Dende's left antenna as the Namekian struggled to free himself from the confined space. After about thirty seconds of listening to Xavier laugh, Dende finally asked in a slightly annoyed voice, "Are you going to help me get out of here, or just roll on the floor laughing some more?"  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Xavier replied as he got to his feet while trying to catch his breath and quell his laughing. Once Dende was finally free of the closet, Xavier asked him, while trying not to start laughing again, "How in the world did you manage to do that?"  
  
"Well," Dende began as he removed the necktie from his antenna. "I figured you might want to start your training today, and when I 'heard' you thinking about how to contact me, I figured I would just use the instantaneous movement to get here. When you threw your backpack down in the corner over there, you were standing exactly where I was going to appear. Rather than crash into you, I ended up in your closet."  
  
"Well, why didn't you just use your teleportation to get yourself out of the closet?" Xavier asked.

"Believe me, I tried. But when I use the instantaneous movement, I have to put my index  
and middle fingers of one hand to my forehead for it to work. I tried to open the door first, but there's no doorknob on that side of the door. I tried to move my hand back to my forehead, but as you saw, I didn't really have the range of motion to do that."  
  
This was too much for Xavier as he, once again, burst out laughing uncontrollably. When his laughter finally subsided, Dende asked him, "Are you ready to start your training?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Wasn't that the whole purpose of your coming here?" Xavier replied.  
  
"Alright then." Dende said as he placed his index and middle finger of his left hand on his forehead and placed is right hand on Xavier's shoulder. As before, Xavier closed his eyes as the two of them disappeared from the room.  
  
When Xavier opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a beach. He looked around and saw that he was, in fact, on an incredibly small island. In the center of it was a small house and palm trees dotted the perimeter of the island. After taking in the surroundings, Xavier realized that Dende was nowhere to be seen. He walked all around the tiny island, but he still couldn't find Dende. Xavier then looked at the house again and, shrugging his shoulders, thought, _Well, I have no other options, I might as well see if anyone is home._  
  
With this, Xavier made his way up to the front door and knocked. There was no answer. Okay, maybe they didn't hear me. Xavier thought and knocked again, this time a little louder. When there was no answer again, Xavier began to get frustrated. _Great, just great! I'm stuck on a tiny little island, with a tiny little house and no one is home!_ Being completely frustrated, Xavier pounded on the door as hard as he could. This time, he heard a reply. Someone inside the  
house yelled, "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT, I'M COMING, ALREADY!!!!"  
  
This was immediately followed by the sound of a toilet flushing. A few seconds later, the door to the small house opened to reveal a very short, very old, very bald man with a white mustache and beard that made him look even older. In his left hand, he held a walking staff as tall as the owner and he was wearing a green t-shirt, tan shorts, red sandals, and very, very dark sunglasses. Xavier also noticed the man had a rolled up magazine in his right hand, which, as far as he could tell from the small part of it he could see, was a lingerie catalog.  
  
The old man raised an eyebrow when he saw Xavier standing at his door and asked, "Can I help you?"  
  
Xavier, who was half-expecting Dende to answer the door, stumbled over his words as he tried to put together a reply. "Hi...um...I was...um...do you happen to know if Dende is around?"  
  
"Dende?" the old man replied. "No, he's not around. You should have stopped by yesterday if you're looking for him."  
  
"Well, I was just talking to him a few minutes ago," Xavier replied. Only after the words left his mouth did he realize how stupid he sounded. Not giving the old man a chance to reply, Xavier continued, "What I mean is that Dende brought me here, but now he's vanished."  
  
"Oohh, I see." the old man replied as if he understood exactly what Xavier was talking about. "Then you must be Xavier?"  
  
Surprised that the man knew his name, Xavier replied, "Yeah, but how did you..."  
  
"Come in, come in. We haven't got all day, you know." the old man interrupted.  
  
Xavier followed the old man into the house. The interior was a lot bigger than the exterior of the house suggested. They first entered into a living room, complete with a purple couch and matching chairs. Xavier noticed an aerobics program was showing on the TV and thought, _this guy doesn't look like the type to be doing aerobics._  
  
Before Xavier could think anything else, he walked right into the old man, who had stopped walking without Xavier's noticing. The man turned around and shouted at Xavier, "WILL YOU WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!"  
  
Xavier backed away from the old man and was about to apologize when the old man started to talk again. "So, you're probably wondering who I am, what you are doing here, and how I know about you, eh?"   
  
"Well, yeah." was all that Xavier could reply.  
  
"Well, for starters, my name is Kame Sennin, but you can simply call me Master Roshi." The old man began. "Secondly, I know about you because I was told by Dende. And third, you are here for one reason and one reason only." Here, Roshi paused briefly.  
  
"And that is?" Xavier asked.

"TO TRAIN!! WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE HERE TO DO?" Roshi shouted in Xavier's face. The sudden change in volume caused Xavier to jump back and inadvertently fall over one of the chairs. Roshi stood perfectly still as Xavier scrambled to get back on his feet and reposition the chair as it had been before his unexpected trip to the floor. When Xavier had finally composed himself, Roshi asked, "So, shall we step outside and begin?"  
  
"Whatever you say." Xavier replied. "You're the teacher."  
  
"Good," Roshi said as he walked out the door. "You already understand the first lesson: the teacher knows what he's doing." When he stepped out of the air-conditioned house, Xavier was met full force by a blast of warm tropical air. Xavier hadn't noticed before, but he was still wearing his leather trench coat. He stopped on the small porch that was attached to the front of the house, took off his coat, and draped it over the railing. Feeling cooled off, but still wishing he was wearing shorts, Xavier followed Roshi. As they were walking to the beach, Xavier was struck by how old Roshi looked. _How is this guy supposed to teach me how to fight? He looks like he can barely walk. And what's with the turtle shell on his back?_  
  
Once he was halfway between the house and the water, Roshi stopped and turned to Xavier. "Now, the second most important lesson I'm going to teach you is..." he began.  
  
"Excuse me," Xavier interrupted. "But, you seem a little....well....old to be doing any martial arts."  
  
Roshi looked at Xavier silently. His left eyebrow raised as he seemed to think about what  
Xavier had just said. An instant later, Xavier was holding the top of his skull in pain and Roshi was shouting, "OF COURSE I'M OLD!! I'M OVER 550 YEARS OLD TO BE PRECISE!!!"  
  
Xavier stopped rubbing his now sore skull when he heard Roshi's age. "F-f-f-five hundred?!" He exclaimed.  
  
Roshi merely nodded a reply. Xavier then sighed and said, "Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. After all that's happened recently, I guess someone living as long as you shouldn't be too much of a surprise. But, I gotta ask, what just hit me in the head?"  
  
"Hmm? You mean this?" Roshi replied. A second later, Xavier was again clutching the top of his skull in pain.  
  
"YES, THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT!!" Xavier shouted in reply.  
  
"_That_ is what brings us to the second most important lesson I have to teach you." Roshi  
began. "Always take note of your surroundings." 

"That's it? That's the second most important lesson you can..." Xavier's reply was cut short when he felt a sharp slap across the right side of his face, which he didn't see coming or going. Rubbing his now sore cheek, Xavier said, "Alright, alright, I'll take note of my  
surroundings."  
  
Xavier stopped rubbing his face and looked around him. He started at the edge of the beach; the waves hitting the sand repetitively, with the occasional wave, larger than the rest, coming up-shore a few more feet before finally receding like all the others. He moved his gaze over the beach, observing every mound and depression, the occasional sprig of grass, and the way the grains of sand moved when a breeze hit the beach. Continuing his mental mapping of the island, he noted where every palm tree was that he could see. He took a moment to observe how the leaves swayed in the breeze and tried to get a rough average of the number of coconuts on each tree. Finally, he observed the small house in the center of the island again. This time, he noted open windows, chipped paint, anything slightly out of the ordinary. When he was satisfied with his inspection of the small island, Xavier turned to Roshi and said, "Ok, now what?"  
  
"Now," Roshi replied. "We see if you have just learned lesson two."  
  
As soon as Roshi stopped talking, Xavier felt something hit his left arm, just below the elbow. "SON OF A BITCH!" Xavier screamed in pain. "Why the hell did you kick me?" he asked Roshi.  
  
"What do you mean?" Roshi replied with a sly smile on his face. "Did you actually _see_ my  
foot hit your arm?"  
  
Xavier quickly replied, "No, but your left foot is dug deeper in the sand than it was a few moments ago, indicated that you just put more weight on it." Roshi smiled at how quickly his new pupil caught on. Xavier, however, didn't notice the smile, but kept talking, "And besides, the instep of your right foot in turning a lovely shade of pink, telling me that you just hit something with it."

Roshi feigned a laugh as tried to bury his right foot in the sand and thought _How embarrassing. I used to be able to knock over a tree with one kick like that and walk away without a mark on me._  
  
"Now, after that demonstration," Roshi said. "Do you have any idea what the next lesson  
is that I have to teach you?"  
  
Xavier thought for a second before he replied, "I've got it: never underestimate your  
opponent."  
  
"Precisely." Roshi replied. _Hmm...this kid has some potential, at least in the brains department. Maybe Dende was right about him._ Roshi thought to himself. "I have one more thing to teach you today." He continued. "Do you know what ki is?"  
  
The blank look on Xavier's face told Roshi that he needed to explain. "Ki is your life energy. Most people have very weak kis and, therefore, are not very strong. Some people, however, through proper training, become strong enough that they can harness their ki into a weapon, a fighting energy, if you will."  
  
Xavier stood unmoving, the same blank expression had never left his face. Sighing, Roshi  
continued. "Well, seeing as it is a hard thing to explain, I guess I'll just have to show you what ki is. Here, hold this." Roshi said as he handed his walking staff to Xavier with his left hand. Roshi then walked a few steps away from Xavier then turned to face him again. He spread his feet to either side of his torso, until his shins were perpendicular to the ground while his thighs were almost parallel to it. He brought his arms in front of his body, his hands clenched into fists. Slowly, he pulled his arms back, bending them at the elbows. When he stopped moving, Roshi's fists were at waist level, slightly in front of him.  
  
Xavier was looking on, thinking _What the hell is that old man doing?_ When Roshi began  
to scream. After a few seconds, Roshi's muscles began to swell. Veins began to appear on his arms and his shirt began to rip at the seams under the strain of the newly added muscle mass. A few more seconds passed in which nothing happened, aside from Roshi's now constant screaming. Suddenly, a blinding light seemed to emit itself from Roshi's very being. Xavier had to shield his eyes from the intense light. While he was still covering his eyes, Xavier was hit by what felt like a brick wall. He was thrown like a rag doll through the air, and would have continued into the ocean, had a palm tree not stopped his flight. Xavier hit it with a sickening 'thud' as his back contorted itself to the trunk. As he was being held against the tree by the 'brick wall,' Xavier managed to open his eyes. When he did, he thought he was hallucinating. Roshi, in his now bulked up form, seemed to be on fire, literally. He was surrounded by and incandescent white flame, but did not appear to be harmed by it. After being pressed against the tree by the unseen wall for a few moments, Xavier fell off the tree, landing face first in the sand. He tried to ignore the screaming pain that emanated from his spine, but when he tried to lift his face out of the sand, he found that his entire body was paralyzed by pain. As he lay there, unable to move, Xavier thought he heard Roshi's voice say, in a somewhat embarrassed tone, "Oh, my. I think I overdid  
it." Those were the last things Xavier heard before his world went black.


	12. Armistice

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 12: Armistice  
  
Xavier slowly opened his eyes. A haze clouded everything he saw. As far as Xavier could tell, he was lying on his back, but not much more. He could make out two objects, one dark in color, the other lighter. He tried to rub his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision, but found he could not lift his arms from his sides. Xavier blinked twice and found that his vision was slightly improved. The lighter colored object suddenly disappeared from his sight. Xavier then heard a calm, familiar voice say, "Good, he's awake."  
  
The voice was familiar. Xavier tried raising his head, but once again found that he could not move an inch. He blinked a couple more times, clearing his vision a little more. Now, he make out the outline of the dark object. It was oval in shape, green, and, as far as Xavier could tell, had two sticks poking out of the far right side of it. As he struggled in vain to move, he heard the voice again. This time, it told him, "Stay still. this won't take much longer."  
  
"Dende? Is that you?" Xavier managed to whisper.  
  
"Yes, it is." Dende replied.  
  
"How long have I been out?" Xavier asked.  
  
"About ten minutes. Now, try not to move." Dende replied.  
  
Xavier did as Dende. As he lay there, motionless, Xavier noticed that his vision was slowly clearing. As it did, he realized that he was back in the small house. He saw Dende had both of his hands outstretched, palms facing Xavier, and was either standing or kneeling at Xavier's side. From his perspective, Xavier couldn't tell. What he could tell, however, was that Dende was emitting a calm, warm glow. It reminded Xavier of the white fire that had surrounded Roshi earlier that afternoon. The light that Dende radiated, however, was not violent, but was very serene.  
  
"What happened?" Xavier asked, with a little more strength in his voice.  
  
"Roshi, over there," at this, Dende motioned with his head towards his right, "forgot to control his own strength during his ki demonstration."  
  
"Alright, alright!" Xavier could hear Roshi shout from across the room. "A guy can't get a break around here. It used to be a good thing to be strong, now I'm getting lectured about it!"  
  
Dende rolled his eyes and returned his concentration to the prone Xavier.  
  
"Tell me," Xavier started, "Does ki always hurt this much?"  
  
Dende smiled at the question while Roshi let out a chuckle before he replied, "Only when you are on the wrong end of it."  
  
Dende let out a slight laugh at the remark as did Xavier, although his was cut short by a sharp pain in the back of his lungs. Dende saw Xavier wince in pain and said, "Please, lie still. It will only take a few more moments before you are healed, but I need to concentrate."  
  
Xavier was about to ask another question, but thought it better to just lie there. A half minute later, and Xavier was sitting up on the purple couch as soon as he could move, although still a little sore, he was free of the intense pain and paralysis that had afflicted him only a minute ago. After he moved his arms and legs and was satisfied that everything was in proper working order, Xavier asked, "What exactly happened to me?"  
  
"Well, you see," Dende began. "When Roshi started his ki demonstration, he underestimated his own power. The force of his power-up sent out a 'wall' of energy, which is what sent you flying into the tree. As far as I can tell, when you slammed into the trunk, you injured your spinal cord and broke a couple ribs. When Roshi realized what he had done, he powered down and contacted me telepathically. I arrived moments later and we carried you in here, where I set to work healing you."  
  
"Wow..." Xavier replied, somewhat shocked that he was almost paralyzed for life. "Wait, you can heal people?!"  
  
"Yeah, it's a useful little trick I picked up a looong time ago." Dende told him.  
  
"I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise, huh?" Xavier said musingly. He then looked at his watch and said, "I should probably be getting home. I don't think I can do any more training today, anyway. Injuring your spine takes a lot out of you."  
  
"Alright, then," Dende replied. "Whenever you're ready to go."  
  
"OK, just let me grab my coat." Xavier said as he made his way to the porch where he had left it, walking with a slight limp.  
  
When Xavier returned, he said goodbye to Roshi and walked back across the room to Dende.  When he got to him, Dende placed his hand on Xavier's shoulder. An instant later, they were gone from the small house. When he saw that he was alone again, Roshi sat down on the couch, his attention given totally to the aerobics show on the TV.

- - - - - - - - - - - -  
In the blink of an eye, Xavier found himself and Dende standing in the kitchen of his apartment.  
  
"Do you think you will want to train tomorrow?" Dende asked.  
  
"I don't know." Xavier replied. "It depends how much I'm hurting tomorrow."  
  
"Alright, then we will have to wait until tomorrow." Dende replied. As he said this, he put two fingers to his forehead and started to blur away. Xavier was surprised, however, to see Dende suddenly take form again in front of him.  
  
"I just remembered," Dende said to the confused Xavier as he reached into a pocket in his maroon vest, pulling out a small, brown bag. "If you take one of these, you should feel better."  
  
Xavier took the bag, opened it, and pulled out a small, green/grey bean. "What's so special about these?" he asked.  
  
"Those are senzu beans." Dende replied. Eating one of those is the equivalent of eating ten days worth of food. They do wonders when it comes to regaining energy and healing injuries."  
  
Xavier eyed the bean that he held between his thumb and index finger skeptically. Then, after considering what Dende had said, he tossed the bean into his mouth. As he crunched down on it, Xavier realized that it had no determinable taste. After chewing it for a few seconds, he swallowed it. Instantly, Xavier felt like he had just eaten a nine course meal. "Wow, these really do work." he said to Dende.  
  
"I know." was all that Dende replied before blurring away completely.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
Xavier looked at the clock above the small TV as he sat on the couch. _Ten o'clock...and I've got way too much energy to burn, thanks to that senzu bean._  
  
He was right. After Dende left, Xavier had spent most of the evening on the couch watching TV, but he had to keep getting up and walking around the small apartment. Xavier just couldn't seem to sit still.  
  
He got up and walked to his room. There, he grabbed his coat off the back of his door, threw it on, picked up his portable music player, put it in his pocket and walked out of his room. Xavier stopped in front of his sister's room and opened the door slightly. He poked his head through the doorway and, in the slight glow of his sister's night-light, saw that she was sound asleep. Upon seeing this, Xavier pulled his head out of the doorway and quietly shut the door again. He walked to the kitchen table and quickly scribbled a note that read "Gone for a walk. Be back soon." Xavier then walked to the door and exited his apartment.  
  
Xavier got to the street and still had no particular destination in mind. Rather than sit and think about it, he simply started walking, letting his feet take him where they would. He put on the headphones to his music player and turned it on. As he walked, Xavier tried to just clear his mind of everything; not thinking of anything that had been happening, where he was going, or what he was going to do. The music that was being delivered directly to his ears occupied all his thoughts. He let himself be carried away by the driving drum beats, insane guitar riffs, and unmistakable vocals. The absence of any sort of worry was a relief on his mind. It made Xavier feel better.  
  
Before Xavier realized it, he had walked to a park that was located six blocks away from his apartment. When he realized where he was, Xavier picked up his pace and started to jog along the paths that were made for just such an activity. As he did, Xavier was once again happy. He was jogging in time with the music that coursed through his brain. He started to take in deep, refreshing breaths of the cold night air as he made his way further and further along the path. There was no one to bother him as he jogged through the dark stillness that the pale lamps of the park could not wholly destroy. On either side of him, there was pitch black, a result of the tall trees that surrounded him. In front, he could see only as far as the lamplight would allow. Beyond that fifteen feet was more darkness. The only sounds were those made by his footsteps, but those were unheard by Xavier, since all his hearing was dedicated to the music he was listening to. Xavier continued to jog for a few minutes in this quiet contentment. Following the path, Xavier turned a corner as he ran. As soon as he did, he ran headlong into something. His momentum caused both himself and whatever he hit to tumble to the ground, alongside the path. Xavier quickly picked himself up off the soft earth and extended his hand to whoever he had run into, for he was now certain that it was a person.  
  
"Sorry about that." He said to the person, whose features were shrouded in the shadows.  
  
"That's ok," said a sad, familiar, female voice as she took Xavier's hand.  
  
He helped her up and knew instantly who it was. Her face was mostly covered by black hair that was disarrayed by the collision, but he still recognized her. "Oh, hey, Jane." Xavier said as he thought _Great, just who I wanted to run into._

"Xavier?" she said surprised. "What are you doing here at this time of night?"  
  
"Jogging." he replied. "I should ask you the same."  
  
"I needed some fresh air so I went for a walk." she said.  
  
"OK, well, see you later." Xavier replied as he turned to leave. He had taken two steps when Jane spoke again.  
  
"Xavier, wait." she said. He turned to face her again. He saw she was standing, eyes facing the ground, her hands in her pockets.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked.  
  
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry about what happened yesterday and this morning." she said.  
  
"Oh." was all the somewhat shocked Xavier replied.  
  
"Yeah, I really don't want to be mad at you." Jane said.  
  
"You? Mad at me? Aside from my being an ass earlier, I haven't given you any reason to be mad at _me_." Xavier replied, slightly annoyed.  
  
"Well, you did insult Chris yesterday." she retorted in a 'matter-of-fact' tone.  
  
"Huh? No, actually, I didn't. There is a difference between insulting someone and telling the truth about them." he responded, now fully annoyed.  
  
"How do you know that what you said is the truth?" Jane started. "I mean, have you ever actually talked to him or gotten to know him? He's a real nice guy."  
  
"Ok, first, I have absolutely no desire to get to know any more about that asshole than I already know." Xavier began, visibly upset at his friend's naiveté. "Besides, how can I get to know him, when I can't stand to listen to him talk for more than five seconds? He has the personality of a brick wall and a brain to match. And about him being a 'nice guy'...you should ask the last girl he went out with about how nice of a guy he is."  
  
By this time, the two of them had begun walking in the direction that Jane was headed in. When he realized that he was going to be involved in a conversation, Xavier had put his headphones in his pocket with his music player.  
  
"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" she asked, both annoyed and intrigued at the same time.  
  
"What I mean is that he used her like he did every other girl he's dated and when he got bored, he cast her away like a piece of trash." Xavier replied.  
  
"And how do you know this? I doubt he'd tell it to you, since the two of you obviously don't get along too well." Jane asked.  
  
"I didn't need him to tell me. He tells everyone in the room when he and the morons he calls friends compare the pictures in their wallets."  
  
"What?! He announces these things to the entire room?"  
  
"No, he doesn't announce them. But they all talk loud enough amongst themselves that you can't help but hear them. Believe me, I've tried blocking them out."  
  
Jane didn't reply. She didn't know how to reply. She had heard rumors that Chris was an ass, but those were just that: rumors, most likely started by girls that he had broke up with on bad terms, she always thought. But now, she was being told by a friend, although she didn't want to believe it.  
  
They continued walking in silence until they had gotten to Jane's apartment building. Before Jane walked into the building, Xavier stopped her and said what he told himself would be his last attempt at warning Jane about Chris. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you who you should or  
shouldn't date." he began. "I'm just trying to warn you before something terrible happens to you that you're gonna regret. I know the side of Chris that he's not going to show to you because that side would repulse you. I don't know how to make you see his true nature. I just hope that you do before something bad happens."  
  
"Xavier, don't worry about me." Jane replied. "I can take care of myself."  
  
"I can't not worry about you. I care about you too much to see you get hurt. But if it's what you want, I won't bring it up again. I suppose I can do that much." Xavier replied.  
  
"Sounds good. I'd rather not get into another fight about it again." she told him. "Goodnight."  
  
"'Night" Xavier replied as he watched her walk into the building before he walked home, himself.


	13. A Natural

**Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 13: A Natural  
  
Xavier found himself standing on the beach once again. He looked around and, as expected, Dende, who moments ago had been standing beside him, was now nowhere in sight. Knowing where he was, Xavier ascended the steps to the little house for the second time in as many days. He rang the doorbell and was greeted a few seconds later by the now familiar white moustache and beard, sunglasses, and bald head.  
  
"Be with you in a second." Roshi said before he vanished from the doorway. Xavier waited patiently on the porch for a minute before Roshi came bursting through the door. As he walked right past Xavier, Roshi said in a preoccupied voice, "you might want to step off the porch."  
  
_What is that crazy old man up to now?_ Xavier thought as he followed Roshi around the corner of the house. _What is so interesting about that wall?_ Xavier asked himself as he silently observed Roshi's actions.  
  
Roshi was indeed acting strangely. He paced up and down the beach, as if he was studying the side of the house.  
  
"Now where is that thing?" Roshi asked no one in particular.  
  
By this time, Xavier had also started to scrutinize the wall, even though he had no clue what he was looking for. Suddenly, and much to Xavier's surprise, Roshi jumped to his feet (he had been crouched down, pulling back the tall grass that grew along the bottom of the wall) and shouted "Aha! No wonder I couldn't find it!"  
  
Without a word of explanation, Roshi scurried off to the back of the house. Xavier, now fully intrigued by Roshi's behavior, followed suit and once again saw Roshi studying the wall. This time, however, Roshi's attention was focused on one spot. Xavier walked up behind Roshi and peered over the aged man's shoulder. There, Xavier saw a small silver rectangle with a glass covering. It was roughly 5cm tall and 3cm wide. In the center of the rectangle was a small red button labeled "DO NOT TOUCH!" Xavier had a feeling he knew what Roshi was about to do and he took a few steps back as Roshi lifted the hinged glass cover and pressed the button. The small house was immediately engulfed by a puff of white smoke. When the smoke cleared a few seconds later, the house had vanished.  
  
"Umm...where'd your house go?" Xavier asked uneasily.  
  
"Right here," Roshi replied as he picked up a small metallic object. After doing so, Roshi reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue box, slightly larger than a wallet. He opened the box, placed the object inside and pulled out a similar red object. Roshi pressed a button on the top of the object and threw in three meters in front of him. Once again, a white cloud of smoke appeared and when it disappeared, Xavier could only stare at the jet-copter that stood in front of him. It was almost 3 meters tall and twice as long. The sun shone off the silver exterior of the craft and created a dull sheen as it hit the black leather interior, which was visible through the large glass bubble that surrounded the cockpit.  
  
Roshi began to walk towards the aircraft. When he was halfway to it, he stopped and turned to Xavier, asking "Well, are you coming?"  
  
"Right." was all that Xavier said as he hurried across the sand where the house had stood just minutes ago. When he and Roshi were in their seats, Xavier asked, "How did you do that?"  
  
"You mean this? And the house?" Roshi asked.  
  
Xavier nodded and the turtle hermit replied, "Haven't you ever heard of Capsule Corp.?"   
  
"Oh yeah," Xavier replied. He had seen the commercials for their products on TV. But they were considered playthings for the rich and luxuries for the upper-middle class. As the craft lifted off the ground, Xavier asked the old man, "How did you manage to pay for this?"  
  
The bearded face turned to Xavier with a wide grin on his face as he charged up the jet-copters engines and said "Connections, my boy! Connections! Now hold on to your lunch!" Roshi replied with a laugh in is voice as he gunned the throttle before doing a series of corkscrews, after which he set out on a straight course to a destination unknown to Xavier.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -   
A few minutes later, the craft touched down on a small, grassy cliff. Before the craft had started to land, from his seat Xavier could see a small village in the distance and trees as far as the eye could see. Xavier and Roshi exited the copter and Roshi pressed a button on the side of the ship, similar to that on the back of his house. A moment later, he was placed the capsule back in the case. He then took out the metallic capsule, pressed the detonator, and threw it on the ground, close to the edge of the cliff. After the smoke had cleared, the little house had an excellent view of the ocean below.  
  
"So, what are we doing here?" Xavier asked.  
  
"This is the area at which I train my students." Roshi replied.  
  
"Alright, then," Xavier started. "Shall we begin?"  
  
"Sure thing, kid," Roshi said. "But first, I need you to do me a favor."  
  
"And that is?" the teen asked.  
  
"You see that big rock over there?" Roshi asked while pointing to a boulder as big as his house and about eight meters away from it.  
  
"Yeah," Xavier replied hesitantly, unsure of where Roshi was going with all this.  
  
"I need you to move it another five meters away from the house. I fear that it might get in the way during the training." Roshi told Xavier in a serious tone.  
  
"Xavier looked at Roshi with a dumbstruck expression for any sign that this was the old man's idea of a joke. When he realized that Roshi was completely serious in his request, Xavier shrugged his shoulders and approached the stone. When he got beside it, Xavier stooped down and examined the ground at the base of the stone.  
  
"Never get a lever or anything under that," he said to himself as he stood up. Seeing no other option, Xavier put his right shoulder and left hand to the side of the boulder and tried with all his might to move it. After straining what seemed like every muscle in his body for half a minute, Xavier gave up his futile attempts and walked dejectedly back to Roshi who told him, "Don't  
worry about that, just a little joke I play on all my students, heh heh. Your training under me will finish when you can move that boulder."  
  
"Okay, then, if that was a joke, when does the real training begin?" Xavier asked.  
  
"Right now!" Roshi answered as he quickly punched Xavier in the jaw with his right fist.  
  
"Owww! Damnit! That hurt!" Xavier yelled while rubbing his now sore face.  
  
"Exactly," said Roshi.  
  
"What do you mean 'exactly'?" Xavier asked exasperatedly.  
  
"I mean you could get beaten up by an old man, such as myself, and I wouldn't even break a sweat." cam the reply.  
  
"And you felt it necessary to demonstrate this because...?" Xavier asked, missing the inherent flaw in what Roshi had just said.  
  
"Motivation," Roshi replied with a sly smirk.  
  
"Crazy old man." Xavier muttered under his breath while shaking his head.  
  
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" the old man shouted. "I MAY BE OLD, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M DEAF!"  
  
"OK, ok," Xavier said while putting his hands in front of himself defensively and taking a step back. "You're old and crazy, but not deaf. Got it."  
  
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that so we can get on with your training." Roshi said in a dignified tone.  
  
"Finally." Xavier muttered.  
  
"Now, the first thing you should know is that Dende saved us a lot of time by unlocking a small fraction of your latent power, you should thank him for that the next time you see him." Roshi began. "As a result, we can skip a lot of the initial physical conditioning needed for the average fighter to get to where you are now. The only problem with this course of action, however, is that you were never given chance to learn how to control your ki through necessity during the aforementioned training." here Roshi paused to see if Xavier was following him. Fighting was Roshi's area of expertise and he knew he could easily confuse those less knowledgeable than himself.

Xavier only nodded his head, since he thought he understood what Roshi was talking about.  
  
"The best way I can describe this," Roshi continued, "is that your power is like water being held behind a dam. The power is there, but you have to free it and learn to control it. The simplest way for you to do this is mentally. First, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on tensing every muscle you can."  
  
Xavier nodded again. He moved his feet so they were shoulder-width apart, arms at his side and hands clenched in fists. One by one, Xavier concentrated on tensing his muscles until, eventually, he had tensed as many as he could. As he accomplished this, he heard Roshi talking, although it seemed like he was far away. "Now, picture the dam, behind which lays your power. There are already a few noticeable cracks in it, thanks to Dende. It is now up to you to break the dam."  
  
Xavier continued to concentrate on bringing the dam down with his mind, for it seemed to him like he was no longer standing on the grassy clearing, but was floating in front of the dam. The more he concentrated, the more cracks appeared in the dam. As the cracks spider-webbed across the dam, Xavier began to feel stronger, but he was growing weaker at the same time. When he was almost ready to collapse from exhaustion, Xavier felt something break down inside him. As he continued to concentrate on the mental dam, he noticed a small chunk of it fall away. From that spot, a beam of pure light spewed forth. Knowing he was doing something right, Xavier continued to concentrate. More and more chunks fell away from the dam until there was nothing left, and Xavier's mental image was bathed in a blinding light.  
- - - -  
Roshi looked on at his pupil who had been standing with his eyes closed for almost five minutes now, when suddenly, Xavier's body lifted about twenty centimeters off the ground. Roshi stumbled back in shock as a blinding aura surrounded Xavier's body and disappeared again.  
- - - -  
As the light surrounded Xavier, he could feel an immense source of power and, for a brief moment, Xavier felt like he was the strongest person in the world. But as quickly as the feeling had arrived, it left him again an the light vanished. When the light had completely gone, Xavier was left in the darkness of his closed eyes. He unclenched his fists and opened his eyes to see Roshi standing in front of him with a huge smile on his face. Xavier, understanding that he had achieved what Roshi was rambling on about earlier, gave a slight smile before falling backwards. As he sat on the grass, leaning back on his hands, Roshi walked up beside Xavier and said,  
  
"Congratulations! You've passed the first part of your training with flying colors. To be honest, I expected this to take you days, maybe even weeks to accomplish. Now that you've gained access to your power, you can learn to control it, little by little, and then increase it." At this point Dende materialized next to Roshi who kept talking. "Now go home and get some rest. You've earned it."


	14. Dream, Dance, Death

**Dragonball FT: The Black Thorn Saga**  
Chapter 14: Dream, Dance, Death  
  
Xavier watched his reflection in the mirror as he straightened his black necktie. _The dance just has to be a formal one._ He thought as he ran his finger around the inside of his shirt collar in a futile attempt to loosen it. After doing so, Xavier reached towards the bathroom door and picked up the blue suit jacket that hung on the doorknob. He threw it on, instantly feeling more constrained and thought: _This has got to be the closest thing to a straightjacket you can get._ With the jacket on, Xavier examined his reflection with a scrutinizing eye. _OK...let's see...hair: flattened, not a strand out of place...the magic of hair gel...shirt: snow white and starched...jacket: clean...khaki's: wrinkle free...shoes: shined._  
  
When he finished with his self-examination, Xavier exited the bathroom and walked towards the couch and when he got there, he positioned himself between the couch and television, turned towards the person on the couch, and asked, "Well, how do I look?"  
  
The woman on the couch got up and stood in front of Xavier. "Oh, look at you...my handsome little boy." she said as she straightened his tie and adjusted his jacket collar; neither of which needed to be done, but she did it out of instinct, anyway.  
  
"Thanks, mom." Xavier replied.  
  
His mom sighed and reached into her pocket. "I suppose you'll be wanting these," she said as she held out her hand, in which rested a set of keys.  
  
Yeah," Xavier replied as he took the keys and put them in his pocket. "Thanks again. It was really cool of you to take the night off so I could use the car."  
  
"Don't mention it...I can't remember the last time I took a Friday night off." she said.  
  
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Xavier replied. "Well, you be sure to get some rest tonight, you deserve it."  
  
"I don't need rest." She replied. "Your sister and I are going to spend some quality time together...it seems like the two of you are growing up behind my back."  
  
"Sounds good, mom." Xavier said as he gave a little smile and thought, _If all goes well, by this time next year, you'll be able to take every night off._  
  
"Well, you have fun tonight...and BE CAREFUL!!" Xavier's mom instructed him.  
  
"I will, mom" Xavier said as he turned and walked to the door. When he got there he turned and said, "Bye" and as he walked out the door, he added, "and don't wait up." before he closed the door.  
  
As he strolled along the hallway towards Emily's apartment, Xavier checked his watch. _7:30...right on time._ He thought as he knocked on the door. No sooner did Xavier lower his hand than the door opened and Emily poked her head out. "Hey, good timing," She said before turning away from the door and shouting "Bye." to anyone who might be listening. She turned back towards Xavier and walked out the door, closing it behind her.  
  
Xavier was awestruck at the sight that stood before him. Emily was wearing a dark blue dress that fitted and accented her form perfectly. Her black shoes were mostly hidden underneath the bottom of her dress. _Wow...she looks incredible. And her hair looks beautiful._ Xavier thought as he quickly admired his date's red hair, which was pulled back in a bun, except for two long curls, which began just above the middle of her forehead and fell loosely along either side of her face, ending at chin level.  
  
"You look great." Xavier said, admiringly.  
  
"So do you," Emily replied, with the same tone in her voice.

As the two teens walked to and descended the stairs, they engaged in idle conversation. Rather than stop at the street level, they continued on into the basement of the building. There, beneath all the floors of apartments, were even more floors that made up the building's parking ramp. Three more floors down, Xavier and Emily left the stairwell and made their way past the rows of vehicles. When they made it to the spot that Xavier's mother rented (each spot was rented out, so that any tenant who owned a car would be guaranteed their parking spot) for her car, a small, dark grey sedan, Xavier pulled out the set of keys that he was given earlier and searched for the key he needed. Behind the car, like every other vehicle, whether it was an old-fashioned car, hover-car, or small jet copter, was a safety bar, painted a bright orange, that was parallel to the ground, rested on two similarly painted bars, and served a dual purpose: keep the owner of the spot's car in and others out. Xavier inserted a key into a slot on the top of the bar, turned it, removed it, and watched as the bar sank into the floor. He then walked to the passenger door, followed by Emily, unlocked and opened it, and closed it after Emily was seated. He then walked to his door, got in, and started the car. As the electric motors of the car gave off a low hum, Xavier refamiliarized himself with the driver's controls. It had been at least two months since he had last driven anywhere. When he was satisfied that he knew where all the controls were, Xavier put the car in reverse and backed out of the spot. Before shifting into drive, he pressed a small, black button on the interior roof of the car, located near where the roof, door, and windshield met. When he did so, the bar returned from the ground. Seeing this, Xavier shifted into drive and made his way to the ramp exit.  
  
Even though Xavier hadn't driven in a while, the trip to the school went without incident, aside from a couple brake and seatbelt checks. Xavier found a parking spot a couple streets away from the school and he and Emily got out of the car and began walking towards the school. It was a perfect autumn evening, the air was brisk, not cold enough to see your breath, but cold so that you knew winter was fast approaching. Many of the trees lining the road had changed color, their leaves an array of colors, from bright yellow to deep red; some were mere skeletons, having already shed their leaves, which now crunched with every step that Xavier and Emily took; and a handful of trees still clung to their green leaves of summer, their roots having likely tapped into an underground water source that remained hidden to the others.  
  
As they neared the school, Xavier and Emily could see the throngs of people moving to the main doors of the school. The school itself looked new, as it should have, seeing that it was built only six years prior, after a fire brought down the aged building that once stood on the same ground. The present building, a testament to modern building techniques and deep alumni pockets, appeared the same summer that the old one vanished, a victim of an arson that went unpunished. It was a rumor that whoever started the fire was killed in the very same, but that was merely a tale used to scare incoming freshmen.  
  
The building that Xavier and Emily now made their way towards was massive. The entire school campus took up almost a quarter of a city block and the main building, with its four branches, one in each direction, hence their names: North, South, West, and East branches, took up more than half of the grounds. The closer that Xavier and Emily got, the more imposing the bare grey walls, five stories tall, would have appeared, had they not been accustomed to the sight. They crossed the main parking lot that was nestled between the South and East branches and was now filled to capacity, mostly with cars that parents had reluctantly surrendered the keys of.  
  
The main doors were located at the midpoint of the south branch. Xavier and Emily walked up the stairs - the very same that Jane used to sit on after school and where Emily now waited for Xavier each afternoon, and into the school. Just inside the door, Xavier handed a ticket to a teacher that had 'volunteered' their time for the event. From there, they followed the crowd and turned right. They then walked down the corridor, which was filled with the noisy hatter of hundreds of couples. The noise echoed off the dark green, metal lockers that lined the hall, making the noise seem much louder than it really was.

After walking along the brightly lit hallway, Emily and Xavier entered into a large room that, compared to the hallway, was very dimly lit. It was a type of combined hallway and foyer, was two stories tall, and meant to replicate the architectural style of the old building. Straight ahead were a set of doors that led into the large auditorium/gymnasium. To the left and right were walkways that followed the wall that separated the foyer from the auditorium that led to the West and East branches, respectively. Along the upper half of the outer perimeter wall of the foyer was a line of windows. Behind them was the path that connected the second floors of all the branches.  
  
Emily and Xavier crossed the large foyer and ascended the four stairs that led into the auditorium. The large wooden doors had been propped open and they walked on, unimpeded. After walking through the doors, Xavier and Emily were in an even larger room whose lighting was even less than that of the foyer. They walked down the aisle, which declined in elevation as it neared the front row, between the sections of stadium style seats, to the floor. Here, there was a basketball court that, for the night, would be the dance floor. Across the court were the stage, which was used for only for drama productions, and two sets of collapsible bleachers on either side of the stage, which were used during basketball games.  
  
Standing side by side on the edge of the dance floor, Emily turned to Xavier and asked, "So, you want to dance?"  
  
"Sure, but...." Xavier began while scratching the back of his head.  
  
"But...?" Emily asked, slightly curious and concerned.  
  
"Well, I guess I should just apologize now." he said. Emily merely looked at her date with a confused expression. Seeing this, Xavier continued. "I'm not that good of a dancer, and I'm probably going to make a fool of..."  
  
Xavier was cut off by a joyful giggle from Emily. He didn't reply to the laughter. He didn't have to. The look on his face was one of confusion and embarrassment. Emily just didn't seem like the kind of person to laugh at something like what Xavier had just told her. when she saw Xavier's sudden change in facial expression, Emily put her hand in front of her mouth and quickly cut off her laughter.  
  
"I'm so sorry," she said with a smile. "I couldn't help but laugh. I was going to tell you the same thing. I can slow dance pretty good, but that's about it."  
  
"Same here," Xavier said while returning the smile. Then, taking Emily's hand in his, he asked, "Shall we make fools of ourselves together, then?"  
  
"Let's." Emily replied as she and Xavier made their way out onto the dance floor.  
  
_I really hope I don't make too much of an idiot of myself._ Xavier thought as he walked with Emily through the crowd of people that had already gathered. They came to a spot with relatively few people and began to dance. After ten minutes, most of which the two teens spent laughing at their own lack of coordination, the flashing lights stopped and the rapidly moving, colored spotlights slowed their travels as the song switched from one with a fast techno beat to one with a soft, slow guitar and bass combo. When this happened, every couple slowed their movements and came together for the next song. Xavier and Emily were no different. As they embraced each other, Xavier and Emily swayed slowly to the music.  
  
To Xavier, time came to a complete stop. Everyone besides Emily was completely obliterated from his awareness. As he held Emily in his arms, she resting her cheek on his shoulder, Xavier could smell her perfume, an odor that he now enjoyed. To him, nothing else but Emily mattered. Everything else was a blur in the background; that is, until he glanced at one of the now bright looking rectangles of light that were the main doors. There, he saw Jane, hand-in-hand with Chris, unsurprisingly and fashionably late.  
  
As he watched Jane and Chris, Xavier's blood began to boil, but then he felt Emily move her arms slightly and he was brought back to his senses. He closed his eyes as the reality of being with Emily warmed his heart.  
- - - - - - - - - -

An hour later, Xavier and Emily were sitting in the auditorium seats, about halfway up the aisle when Xavier felt the need to excuse himself. He told Emily he would be right back, got up, and walked to the main doors of the auditorium. Passing through the foyer, Xavier turned left as he hurried into the South branch, and entered the bathroom there.  
  
*a minute later*  
  
The toilet flushed automatically behind Xavier as he left the stall. He walked to the sink and proceeded to wash his hands. As he did, a flush could be heard coming from another stall. Glancing in the mirror in front of him, Xavier could see a figure approaching the sinks, a figure named Chris.  
  
"Hey there, Xavier." Chris said in a friendly voice.  
  
Xavier didn't reply as he concentrated on the mirror, checking to make sure no part of his hair was standing out of place.  
  
"What's a matter?" Chris asked sarcastically while washing his hands. "Forgot how to talk?"  
  
Xavier walked away from the sinks, not looking at Chris or his reflection, and began drying his hands under the air dryer. When his hands were dry, Xavier turned to leave, but found himself face-to-face with Chris.  
  
"Funny, really," Chris began while Xavier stared him in the eyes. "Here you are, not saying a word, but I hear you just can't keep your damn mouth shut when you talk to Jane, CAN YOU!?"  
  
Before the words had stopped echoing in the small, tiled room or Xavier knew what had happened, Chris had gripped Xavier's throat in his right hand and pushed him back so that the hand dryer had embedded itself between two of Xavier's lower ribs and his head hit the wall with a sickening 'thwack'.  
  
"You know," Chris said angrily, "This is the second time you've poked your nose into Jane's and my relationship."  
  
Xavier's face remained stolid and his arms hung limply at his sides.  
  
"When she asked if she could see my wallet," Chris continued, "I just knew you had been talking to her."  
  
There was still no response from Xavier, even though his air supply was constricted and there was a searing pain in his lower back.  
  
"What's going to happen between her and I is inevitable...you and I both know that."  
  
Xavier's face held it's stoical expression, but his eyes snapped to life.  
  
Chris remained unaware of this change in Xavier's demeanor and continued as he tightened his grip on Xavier's throat. "And when I'm done with Jane, maybe I'll move on to that cute little red-head you brought with you tonight."  
  
Xavier's eyes quickly became pools of a nearly uncontainable rage. He could feel the water dripping off of Chris' still wet hand down his neck and the beating of his own heart.  
  
"By the way," Chris continued, bringing his sneering face close to Xavier's. "How much does she cost per hour?"  
  
The rage that had filled Xavier's eyes exploded and spread throughout the rest of his body. One second, Chris was sneering in Xavier's face, the next he was hopping from foot to foot in pain as Xavier held Chris' hand - the same that he had held Xavier by the throat with - and slowly began to close his hand around it, tighter and tighter, in a vice-like grip.  
  
"We need to get a few things straightened out." Xavier said, completely devoid of emotion as Chris struggled to break free from Xavier's grip.  
  
"First, you are going to stand still and shut up. The more you struggle, the more I crush your hand." Xavier said in the same cold voice. Chris stopped moving, but a tear could be seen welling up in his eye.  
  
"Second, you are _never_ going to touch me with your slimy hands again." To this, Chris nodded emphatically.  
  
"Third," here, Xavier spun himself and Chris around so that the dryer dug into Chris' spine. "Third, you are _not_ going to hurt Jane. You break her heart, I break your neck...and spine...and ribs...and skull. Understand?" once again, Chris nodded in agreement as he tried to pry Xavier's hand away with his free left hand.  
  
"And lastly," Xavier continued, "You will _never_ even _look_ at Emily the wrong way, never mind try anything with her like the lies you've probably fed to Jane."  
  
By now, a single tear had found it's way down Chris' cheek. Amid the pain he was suffering, he managed to squeak, "Whatever you say." Xavier gave Chris' hand one final squeeze, which brought Chris down to one knee in pain, before letting go. Chris returned to his feet and quickly backed away like an injured animal as Xavier walked out the door.

- - - - - - - - -  
When Xavier got back to Emily, they continued to sit for a little while before returning to the dance floor. An hour and a half later, he and Emily were enjoying the last dance of the night. Emily had her eyes closed and a content smile on her face as they danced together. It seemed like neither she nor Xavier wanted that last dance to end. But after a few minutes, the song, like all things, came to an end. The night, however would not be over for some time. Soon, they would be bowling with three other couples and later would watch a movie or two at Ryan's house. By the time Xavier would see Emily to he apartment door, it would be 5:30 in the morning. Xavier would come home to a sleeping apartment, a state which would quickly overtake him.


	15. Ring Around the Rosie

Dragonball FT: The Black Thorn Saga 

Chapter 15: Ring Around the Rosie

All around, the leaves of the tropical trees that covered the landscape swayed lazily in the warm ocean breeze. The small house stood off to the right. In the other direction, there stood a behemoth of a boulder, nearly as big as the house. Between these two objects stood a tall, lanky figure. He wore black shorts and a gray t-shirt. His short brown hair was unmoved by the breeze that shook the leaves of the trees.

He stood facing the house when, as if struck by a brilliant idea, he whirled around and began walking towards the boulder. When he reached the boulder, he proceeded to walk around it, searching for something. After circumventing the giant rock, he stopped where he had began, looked the boulder over once more, shrugged his shoulders, and leaned against the rock, pressing his right shoulder to it. He dug his feet into the soft, green earth as he prepared for what he was about to attempt. His feet sank a half-inch as he pushed on the boulder with all his strength. When it felt like any more strain on his body would rend muscle from bone, he collapsed in a heap next to the stone. As he lay there, eyes closed, taking in deep draughts of the warm tropical air, he could hear footsteps lightly and slowly approaching. When the footsteps stopped a few feet away, an old voice said, "You've got a lot more training ahead of you before you before you'll be able to move that, Xavier."

Xavier opened his eyes and looked the old man in the sunglasses, but did not respond.

"Well, are you going to lie there all day or are you going to get up?" Roshi asked sarcastically as he poked at Xavier with his walking staff.

"Alright, alright." Xavier responded as he sat up and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small grayish-green bean and ate it. Feeling his strength restored, Xavier sprung to his feet and asked, "So, what's on the agenda for today? Swimming? Or is it weightlifting again today?"

It was one week after the dance and this was the fourth time that Xavier had been at Roshi's to train.  In that time, Xavier's training had consisted of him swimming in the ocean as Roshi chased him in a small speedboat, shouting random 'inspirations' and of Xavier having to move rocks almost half his size from one place to another, then back again, then repeating the process. It was what Roshi referred to as "weightlifting."

As they were walking towards the small house, Roshi explained to Xavier, "No, none of that, today.  Right now, I need you to deliver a letter for me."

"You're kidding, right?" asked Xavier.  "All you want me to do is deliver a letter?"

"Yes." replied Roshi as he ascended the steps to his house. "Now wait here a minute." With that, Roshi disappeared into the house.

Less than a minute later, he returned, carrying what appeared to be a large bowl in his hands and the letter in his mouth.  He half walked, half stumbled to where Xavier was standing and dropped the heavy object at Xavier's feet, causing the teen to jump back or risk losing a foot.

"What's all this stuff?" asked Xavier.  "I thought I was delivering a letter."

"You are," said Roshi, after taking the letter from his mouth.  "And here it is.  That," he pointed to the objects lying in the sand, "is your training."

Xavier bent down and examined the objects.  Inside the bowl were four black, padded, heavy objects.  Upon closer inspection, Xavier found them to be ankle weights and wrist weights.  After taking them out of the bowl, he realized that the bowl itself was familiar.  When he examined it, he saw that it was, in fact, a tortoise shell, similar to the one that Roshi always wore.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" asked Roshi, causing Xavier to look up from his examination.  "That's your training equipment.  Put it on."

With that, Xavier put on the wrist and ankle weights and slung the tortoise shell over his shoulders, instantly feeling the added weight.  "Just how much does this weigh?" asked Xavier exasperatedly.

"Hmmm….two and a half pounds on each ankle, one on each wrist and about twenty-five on your back." replied Roshi.

"That's it?!" replied Xavier, slightly shocked at how much heavier so little weight made his limbs feel.

"I told you that you have a lot of training to do." replied the turtle hermit.  "Now, I hope you haven't forgotten about the letter," he said as he handed the envelope to Xavier.

Taking the white envelope in his hand, Xavier asked, "Ok, so, where exactly am I taking this to?"

Roshi pointed down into a small valley, which contained a quaint-looking village. "You see that village?" he asked Xavier.

"Yeah," replied the teen.

"You see that big hill just past the village with the big red house on the top of it?"

"Yeah," said Xavier, less enthusiastically than before.

"Take it to that house.  The person it's addressed to will tell you what to do after she reads it." Roshi explained.

"Alright." Xavier said as he began walking off to the dirt road that would take him to the village.

"Oh, and Xavier," Roshi called to him, causing him to stop and turn around.  "I expect you to run there."

Sighing and grumbling under his breath, Xavier turned and began jogging.  He reached the dirt road and was enveloped in a sea of green.  The sights, sounds, and smells of the tropical forest almost made Xavier forget the fact that he was likely to pass out before he reached his destination.  Every so often, a flash of movement, most likely a small creature darting to and fro, would catch Xavier's eye.

_Wow.  This is really awesome.  _Xavier thought as he jogged along the dirt road.  _I've never seen this much of this area before.  I only wish I wasn't running past it all.  I could stop, but I'm willing to bet that the old man would be able to tell if I slacked off any._

And so, Xavier continued on until he reached the village some miles away.  When he got there, he slowed to a stroll, taking in the sights.  He had lived in or near the city all his life and had never seen such a simple village before.  All the homes were small, dome-shaped structures.  Some were painted different colors, but most were white with wood borders and doors.  As he walked, Xavier looked on as small shop owners carried out business with customers, small children playing in the dirt streets, and small, donkey drawn carts bouncing along the ruts in the road.  It wasn't too difficult or him to pick the correct way to the hill that was his goal, as the village was centered around one main road and Xavier soon found himself walking on an incline.  

He began jogging again as he left the village behind and made his way up the large hill.  As Xavier ran up the slowly inclining hill, the trees that had dotted the landscape gave way to grassy fields. As the wind swept over the hills it sent waves rippling through the carpet of grass that covered them.  He slowly made his way up the now winding road, legs burning, lungs aching, and drenched in sweat.  Arriving at the top of the hill, he approached the house.  Unlike those of the village below, it was made of red brick, had two stories, an expensive looking wooden door with a shiny brass doorknocker, and shutters painted a brilliant white.

Xavier walked up to the house and, for the first time that day, Xavier became aware of his silly appearance: soaked in sweat, weights on his wrists and ankles, and a turtle shell on his back. Hesitantly, he reached for the brass doorknocker, lifted it, and dropped it three times. After this disturbance, an uneasy silence became painfully noticeable to Xavier as he fumbled with the envelope in his hands and awaited a response.  A minute later, the large wooden door slowly swung open on its hinges, revealing an extremely young, black haired girl.

"Hello!" said the little girl, cheerily.

Xavier, half-expecting an adult to answer, wasn't sure what to say, so he clumsily handed the girl the envelope.  She took it from him, studied it for a moment, and then screamed with glee, "A letter from grandpa Roshi!"

_Grandpa??_ Thought Xavier. But before he could sort the matter out any further, the girl was gripping Xavier by the left wrist and dragging him into the house. Once his eyes adjusted to the change in lighting, Xavier found himself being dragged through a large room.  Three ceiling fans placed in equal intervals across the ceiling spun in pace with each other, creating a slight breeze which felt almost cold, but refreshing to Xavier after running for so long. Expensive looking furniture was arranged throughout the room.  From what Xavier could see, there were at least two couches, almost a half-dozen armchairs, and a few tables, all elegantly crafted.  Artwork decorated the walls and a small fountain in the corner filled the room with the relaxing sounds of falling water while a fireplace in one wall looked as if it was rarely used.

Xavier managed to take all this in as he was pulled along by the little girl, who looked to be roughly half his age.  As soon as his eyes had become accustomed to the dim surroundings of the first room, Xavier was blinded by a kitchen bathed in sunlight.  This room looked drastically different from the previous room: the most modern appliances and gadgets filled the room. A refrigerator and stove (a cast-iron pot-rack hanging just above the latter with stainless steel pots and pans hanging from it and sparkling in the sunlight), both looking like new, stood nestled along one wall, a dishwasher and chrome sink dominated another.  A third wall was the site of a long countertop on which rested a variety of appliances.  Seated at a table in the center of the room was an older woman.  She looked to be in her thirties, had a slender figure, and, like the little girl, had black hair.  The woman sat leaning back in the chair, a coffee mug in her left hand, talking into the videophone.

"Mommy! Mommy!" shouted the little girl.

The woman clicked a button on the videophone screen and looked at her daughter, paying no attention to Xavier, and asked, "What is it, Luanna, honey?"

"I got a letter from grandpa Roshi!" the little girl informed her mother, excitedly.

"That's nice, Luanna. Remember, you've got to be back before bedtime."

"I will, mom," replied Luanna.  With that, the little girl, dragging Xavier by the wrist, exited the kitchen through another door.  _What the hell is going ooooon…_thought Xavier as he felt his arm being wrenched across the kitchen.  A few seconds later, Xavier was being dragged across the backyard, the smell of fresh-cut grass overpowering him.  The little girl didn't seem to notice any of her surrounding, but kept pulling Xavier along towards a small garage.  When they got to it, the girl pressed a button on the side of the door, causing the door to silently rise on its runners.  Luanna then walked into the garage and returned pulling a bicycle.  Unlike most bikes, this one looked like a hybrid of a bicycle and a carriage. The front of it looked normal enough, with a seat for someone to pedal from, but the back of that was attached to a bench-style seat that was resting on two wheel.  Luanna then sat down on the bench and asked Xavier, "C'mon! We have to go pick up Anna and Terri before we go to see Grandpa Roshi!"

"Hold on a sec!" exclaimed the exhausted Xavier.  "You don't expect me to pedal you and your friends there, do you?"

Luanna looked at Xavier solemnly and, letter in hand, said "That's what Grandpa says for you to do."

Xavier saw the letter in the girl's hand and, cursing his luck, got on the tricycle and began pedaling, with Luanna doing the back-seat driving.

****

Back in the village, the tricycle and its two passengers made its way down the central avenue.  Suddenly, it was brought to a screeching halt when Luanna yelled "STOP!"

With the tricycle stopped, Luanna ran to a small house and knocked on the door.  As she waited for a response, Luanna shifted nervously from one foot to the other.  After thirty second of this suspense, the door opened to reveal a blond girl, roughly the same height as Luanna.  Xavier tried to hear their conversation, but could hear nothing more than muffled bits of it from his seat on the bike.  Suddenly, the blond girl disappeared into the house, leaving the door open, and reappeared a few moments later.  The two young girls then scrambled back to the bike and sat on the bench.

"Hurry up, Xavier! That way!" yelled Luanna as soon as she was seated, pointing down a side-street.  "We have to go get Anna, now!"

Xavier began pumping the pedals, his job made even more difficult with an additional passenger.  A few minutes later, three girls were scrambling onto the bench, the new passenger being an equally short, brown haired girl.  With the added weight to pull, Xavier began the long bike ride back to Roshi's house.

*****

Outside of the Kame House, an old, bald man wearing a turtle shell stood quietly and unmoving, looking at his watch.

"They should be here any time now…" he muttered to himself as he glanced up towards the path that led to the village.  A few moments later, a faint sound could be heard coming from the direction that the old man was looking in.  At first, it was nothing more than a faint voice in the distance.  As it grew louder, the incoherent singing of three very happy children could be heard.  As the source of the singing got even closer, the singing stop and it was replaced by a frantic conversation.

"I think we're almost to Grandpa Roshi's!" said one voice.

"Really? I thought we still had a few more miles to go?" said another.

"No.  There's the bridge over the stream, we're almost there!" said a third.

"You're right! I see it too!" said the second. 

Xavier pedaled the bike over the small wooden bridge and continued on for another minute, following a winding path through the trees.  Finally, when he thought he might never make it out of the tunnel in the trees, the bike rolled into a grass clearing.  At the opposite end of the clearing was the small house and it front of it, Roshi with his walking staff in one hand and a wristwatch on the other.  He glanced up as the sounds coming from the bike and it's passengers broke away from behind the trees and waited for Xavier to pedal it across the field, bringing it to a halt in front of Roshi.

"It's about time you got back." said Roshi.

Xavier didn't reply.  He simply crossed his arms on the handlebars and let his head fall onto his forearms.  Just the thought of trying to move made Xavier's muscles ache even more.  Suddenly, Xavier felt something hit him in the back of the head, causing him to roll/fall off the bike seat and onto the ground, landing on his back.  From his new viewpoint on the ground, Xavier saw an upside-down image of Roshi's head and shoulders peering at him through dark sunglasses.

"You didn't think you were done, now, did you?" asked Roshi as he tapped his walking staff in his hand.

Xavier groaned.  "Just….let….me….lie here….for… a while."  he managed to mutter.

Roshi stooped down by Xavier.  To the teen, Roshi still appeared upside-down.  Roshi looked at Xavier with a slight bit of concern and asked, "What's wrong? Tired?"

Xavier slowly nodded his head.

"TOO BAD!!!  NOW GET UP!!!" yelled the turtle hermit.

Xavier scrambled to his feet.  "Alright, alright." he muttered. "I suppose you have some other training for me to do?"

"Actually, I thought we might play a game." said Roshi as the three girls started jumping up and down excitedly and Xavier fell over.

Scrambling to his feet once again, Xavier exclaimed, "A GAME!? THAT'S IT?!"

Roshi stared Xavier in the eyes.  Then, without warning, he poked Xavier in the shoulder before running off, yelling "TAG!  YOU'RE IT!"

Xavier looked around and saw the three girls imitate Roshi as the scurried off in different directions.  "Sonofa…." he muttered, realizing that this was the training and took off after the fleeing Luanna.  He hadn't taken three steps before he fell flat on his face, due to the added weights, especially those on his ankles.

_Damnit!  I'll never catch any of them if I have to wear all these weights.  I'm just too tired._ Xavier thought as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small brown bag.  As he was about to reach inside it, he heard Roshi call, to him: "And don't think about taking any senzu beans!"

"Why the hell not?" Xavier yelled back, slightly frustrated.

"If you do that, you'll never increase you stamina." Roshi answered from across the field.

Begrudgingly, Xavier put the pouch back in his pocket and slowly got to his feet and yelled back to Roshi, "Just how long are we going to play this, anyway?" 

"Until you can catch someone." came the reply.

Xavier didn't like the sound of this.  It could take him a long time to catch one of them in his current state.  He looked around, trying to find someone to tag closer to him than Roshi, but realized that all the girls were gone.

_Great! Just great! I'm being embarrassed by three girls and an old man!  I have officially reached a new low._  Xavier thought as he scanned the surrounding area for the girls.  He looked along the tree-line for any sign of them, but had no luck.  Then, from behind him, Xavier heard the faint sounds of someone running.  He turned (almost throwing himself off balance in the process) to see a blond-haired blur dart behind the side of the house.  Having no other options and wanting to get the game over with as fast as possible, Xavier ran after the girl, making sure to keep his balance.  He ran to the left of the house where he saw the girl disappear to and made his way along the side of it as fast as he could.  He got to the back of the house and, turning the corner, lost his balance, falling once again.  Cursing as he picked himself up, Xavier hurried around the house, hoping to catch up to and tag Terri.  By the time Xavier got around the house, Terri was already making her way towards the field in front of the house.  Xavier sprinted as fast as he could and was actually catching up.  With every stride, Xavier came closer and closer to ending the childish game.  Finally, half-way across the field, Xavier had almost tagged Terri.  His fingertip was a mere inches away from tapping her on the shoulder.  As this happened, Terri looked back over her shoulder and laughed.  Xavier, not sure what she was about to do, dove in an attempt to end the game.  This was futile, however, because the instant that Xavier's feet left the ground, Terri darted to the right, allowing Xavier to dive into the ground.

After sitting up and spitting the dirt and grass out of his mouth, Xavier slowly got to his feet once more and looked around.  The three girls were nowhere to be found, but Roshi was standing on the porch of his house, hands leaning on the railing, laughing hysterically.  A devilish smile found it's way onto Xavier's face as he thought _there's my victim_.

Xavier slowly began to walk towards the house, feigning a slight limp in his left leg.  Roshi continued to go through his fits of laughter.  Every time his laughing began to subside, it would redouble once more.  This went on until Xavier was about ten feet from the front of the porch.  When he saw how close Xavier had gotten, Roshi quickly stopped laughing. He watched Xavier with a scrutinous eye, which was hidden behind dark sunglasses.

"Hey, Master Roshi, what time is it?" asked Xavier, with most of his weight on his right leg and his left arm holding his ribs.  By now he was also covered from head to toe in dirt and sweat.

Roshi quickly glanced at his watch and replied, "It's almost 4:30."

Xavier's eyes widened.  "4:30?! Are you serious?!" He asked excitedly.

Roshi nodded in affirmation.

"Well what are you standing around for?" Xavier asked as he started moving towards the house.  Roshi backed up to the side of the porch.  He knew he was just as good of a target to end the game as the three girls were.

"You mean you forgot that Aerobic Angels is on at 4:30?" Xavier asked as he darted into the house.

Roshi's sunglasses slipped down the bridge of  his nose, revealing that his eyes were now wide with joy.  "Is that some new show?" he asked before darting in the house after Xavier.  No sooner had Roshi stepped in the door, however, than had Xavier poked him in the forehead with his index finger while yelling "TAG!" in the old man's face.

The huge grin on Roshi's face quickly vanished when he realized that he had been fooled.  "WHAT THE…YOU…..BUT……" Roshi sputtered before Xavier became the one who was laughing uncontrollably.

Roshi's face turned a bright shade of red as he endured Xavier's laughing.  After a few seconds of this, however, Roshi suddenly yelled. "THAT'S IT! TIME TO CONTINUE YOUR TRAINING!"

Xavier stopped mid-laugh and let out a tired sigh. _Damn. I was hoping I could take a break._ he thought.

"C'mon, c'mon. Let's go!" said Roshi as he walked outside and called out, "GIRLS! NEW GAME!"

As they waited for the girls to return, Roshi quietly asked Xavier, "That show you mentioned earlier…is it real or did you just make it up?"

Xavier just fell over.

*****

The loud Capsule Corp jet copter lifted off from the field in front of the house.  In the pilot's seat sat Luanna's mother and from the side window, Luanna waved goodbye to Roshi.  "Bye Grandpa!!" she shouted, just barely audible over the roar of the engine.

Roshi, standing alone, waved back.  When the jet copter had sped off over the forest canopy, Roshi walked back towards the house.  Instead of going into the house, Roshi's course veered to the right.  About ten feet from the house, Xavier sat, slumped against the trunk of a tree.

"Well, now, that was rude of you, not waving goodbye." Roshi joked whenhe was next to Xavier.

Xavier didn't move.  He didn't even raise his head to look at the old man.

"I would have," Xavier began, barely speaking above a whisper.  "But I don't think I have the strength to get up, never mind wave goodbye."

"Then eat a senzu." Roshi said matter-of-factly.

Once again, Xavier didn't move.  If his eyes would have been open, they would have expressed the embarrassment and stupidity that he felt.  Would have, if he wasn't so tired.  After an hour and a half of tag, hide and see, keep away, and other children's games, Xavier barely had the strength to reach in his pocket and pull out the bag of senzu beans.  He struggled until he managed to raise his weighted hand to his mouth and munch down on the senzu bean.  A few seconds later, Xavier's eyes shot open, he hopped to his feet and said,  "Well, that takes care of that."

"Indeed it does," Roshi said as they began walking to the house.  As they were walking, Xavier asked, "There's something I've been bothering me."

"And that is?" asked Roshi.

"How is it that you're 550 years old and only that girl's grandfather?" he asked.

Roshi thought for a moment before he replied "That will all be explained in time.  Now come on, Dende should be waiting for you.

They walked into the house and, as Roshi predicted, Dende was there waiting, sitting in a chair.

"Ready to go?" he asked while standing up.

"Yeah," Xavier replied, taking off the turtle shell.

"That reminds me!" Roshi exclaimed as he ran into the kitchen and returned a moment later, carrying a seemingly heavy duffel bag which he set on the chair that was previously occupied by Dende.

"Here," he said to Xavier.  "I want you to wear these all the time."

Xavier opened the bag, revealing a set of black ankle and wrist bands and two t-shirts, one black and the other white.

"The shirts each weigh about the same as the turtle shell, but the others weights weigh about twice as much as the ones you were wearing today." Roshi told him.

Xavier picked up the black shirt.  It felt like a regular cotton t-shirt, but, as Roshi had said, weighed as much as the turtle shell.  Upon further inspection of the bag's contents, Xavier found the other weights to be made of the same material.

"Thanks, Master Roshi." Xavier said before replacing the weights in the bag, picking it up, and placing his hand on Dende's shoulder.  A moment later, the teen and the namek were gone.


	16. New Beginnings

Dragonball FT, The Black Thorn Saga 

Chapter 16: New Beginnings

"So, do you think he's ready?"

"I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"Well, which part didn't you understand?"

"I mean, you're his teacher."

"That doesn't mean I have a complete knowledge of how much he has improved."

Dende sighed.  He had hoped that Roshi would have had at least a guess at Xavier's capabilities.

From about twenty feet away, Xavier could only guess at what Roshi and Dende were discussing.  _This is weird.  Dende has never stayed around to talk to Roshi before._

Xavier's thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard Roshi call over, "Xavier, come over here."

Xavier walked across the to where Dende and Roshi were standing.  When he got there, he asked, "So….What's up?"

"Xavier," Roshi started. "Move that, would you?" he added, pointing in the direction of the large boulder on the edge of the clearing.

"You sure?" asked the doubtful teen.  Roshi nodded a reply.

"Alright.  If you think I can, I'll give it a try."  Xavier conceded.  He walked over to the boulder, as he had done twice before, and looked it over.  He could easily see that it was still as firmly embedded into the ground as before.  Remembering what he was up against, Xavier prepared himself for a struggle.  He put his shoulder to the stone and pushed as hard as he could.  After a few seconds of straining, something gave way.  Only this time, it wasn't Xavier.  Using every bit of strength in his body, Xavier could feel the boulder begin to move.  Slowly, the boulder broke free of the earth.  Inch by agonizing inch, Xavier pushed until finally, after moving the rock almost two feet, Xavier stopped, hands and shoulder still resting on the stone.  He took in a few deep breaths, turned to Roshi and Dende and said, "Well, that was easy."

Roshi, amazed at what he had just seen and heard, looked at Dende and said, "Sometimes, that boy just plain surprises me."

Dende nodded in agreement as Xavier walked back towards the two.

"Wow! Who would've thought that just a few months of training would do so much?"

"Indeed," Roshi agreed.  "It seems like just yesterday that you started your training, and now, it is finished."

"Yeah…" said Xavier.  "Wait! What? Finished?  Aren't you going to teach me how to fight?"

"No, Xavier.  That is the job for your next teacher.  I have taught you everything I can.  In these past few months, you have learned how to push yourself beyond what is humanly possible.  That is the purpose of my training."

"I see…" replied Xavier.  "So, who is my new teacher?"

"You'll be meeting him back at the lookout."  Dende explained.

"Oh….so, when are we going?" the teen asked.

"As soon as you say your goodbyes." replied Dende.

"You mean you're not coming along?" Xavier asked the turtle hermit.

"No, I'm heading back to my island soon."  came the reply.

"Well, in that case," Xavier started.  "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Xavier." Roshi replied as Dende placed a hand on Xavier's shoulder.

"And you better not slack off!" added the old man, shaking his fist, just before Xavier and Dende disappeared.

**********

Two figures materialized before a background of a clear blue sky.

"Welcome back, Dende." stated a dark-skinned man.  "And Xavier, it is great to meet you.  My name is Mr. Popo."

Xavier, stepping forward to greet the stranger, replied, "Hi, Mr. Popo.  So, are you my new teacher?"

Popo laughed.  "No, young sir.  I'm not your teacher.  I am the caretaker of the lookout."

"Oh, then who is?" Xavier asked.

"I am," responded a strong, slightly menacing voice from behind Xavier.

Xavier turned to face the voice, and was taken aback when the only person he saw was Dende.

"Dende…?" Xavier began before his words were halted by a cold stare.

"My name is not Dende.  It's Piccolo."


End file.
